A Scattered Memory
by CupcakeLerman
Summary: Love never used to mean a thing to me. My father denied our relativity, my friends were too busy to care, and my mother was...just there. It later took me seventeen years to realize that, maybe I had  forgotten my one true love; Until we met again. R/N
1. The Icing On The Cake

**Scattered Memory**  
by **CupcakeLerman**

[a** K i n g d o m H e a r t s** story]

**Chapter 1: The Icing On the Cake.**

She had worn a scarlet sweater the day I met her.

I could remember that day like a photograph from my wedding day; it was unforgettable. I can also remember all the elements of that day; give me the color red: her sweater. Give me the number one: the time. Give me my birthday: the day.

People tend to remember their first times for everything. First house, first car; first love—that kind of thing. I guess, this was one of those moments...but, the difference was, after all the effort I'd put into thinking, I could never fully recall anything resourceful. Why do I suddenly remember this encounter?

Was it a meeting of hell or heaven?  
I'll never know. The things I do know now are that she was a girl in a red sweater, and she forever changed my life, in ways I'd slightly never remember.

**—- - - -**

"Come on, Roxas! You'll miss the great sunshine!" Olette shouted back at me while she dashed along the streets.

I struggled to keep up with her peak speed. "I can see the sunshine from here, what's the point of going up on the bell tower?" I retorted, aligning myself next to her. She was so intent on making it there, that she hadn't even noticed I was next to her.

"Oh, just be quiet! It's your day, and you deserve a nice peaceful afternoon on the famous Twilight Town Bell Tower!" she replied. That was the mischievious, brainiac Olette. She was a brunette, had dark-green eyes, and an annoying personality. She was the kind of friend that yelled at me to get a girlfriend. There weren't many varities of girls in Twilight Town, the town of my short existence. The girls there were either horribly and unavoidably blasé, my best friends since early childhood, or taken already by my piss of a best friend Sora.

I did not want to go on top of the bell tower. It was really high up, and my number one fear was haplessly heights. It wasn't any of the pestering neighborhood bullies trying to make a living out of their dastardly deeds, or any of the annoying teachers that sometimes probed you to follow their rules. Just frankly standing hundreds of feet off the ground. The view by the ledge would overlook the curious setting sun, but if you'd look down, a terrible sight for someone even with mild acrophobia—someone like me—would induce so much anxiety, it'd be overbearing. I waved my pestering blonde hair out from my view to still try to catch up with Olette, who finally surpassed me, and I swallowed the foreboding thoughts behind. Man up, Roxas, I told myself.

"How do you know it's legal, Olette?" I asked for security. Of course I had known it was illegal. Almost everything in Twilight Town was illegal, but every teenager in town was involved in some minor offense. This was ours; sadly, I was part of it.

Olette's lean figure hadn't turned back. She hadn't spared a glance even once during our trip to the tower. She knew that if she turned around to face my imploring blue eyes and give me a valid answer, I would've turned back and start running back home, where I lived alone in solitude; just me and my big blue eyes. I was beginning to get more and more nervous about the situation as we drew closer to the tower.

Meanwhile, we continued running across the scenic town, crossing tram tracks and desolate streets with few pedestrians and passerbys. We took several detours across buildings' rooftops and throughout the small crowds of Twilight Town looking for entertainment and goods on the streets.

On certain occasions I would glance to my right and catch the glimpse of this sunlight ceremony Olette had wanted me to  
witness. Little rivulets of orange and yellow collided respectfully and collaborated together to form a fiery bright orange, one that was even blinding. It wasn't all that usual to see this in late September. Possibly August, but not towards October; it just didn't seem right.

I honestly hadn't cared all that much of the journey; I cared mostly about the destination. Everyone knew the bell tower was the best place to look at the sky. They even had special blessing ceremonies at the top, when it wasn't shut to the public. It was just...the height...

After long and silent periods of running and deep thinking on both our parts, Olette and I paced up the winding stairs to the rooftop. The rooftop was supposedly a quaint and quiet place; it just so happened that it sounded like no one was up there. Our shoes echoed in harmony as we traveled up the stairs. The roof was perfect for hanging out, or catching up on sleep time. My friends and I, including Olette and Sora, would on occasion race up the reverberating steps to this welcoming location. It would only happen probably once every two years, if we were able to sneak around with no one looking, and I wasn't trying to bribe them out of the deal. That day, when I opened the roof door, I saw Sora gathered near the ledge along with Kairi and Hayner, other friends of mine. Kairi was holding a frosted cake on top of her palms, while all of them looked as if they were expecting me.

The door that lead to the stairs slammed behind me and Olette, triggering a response from the group on the ledge. They turned to greet me, and I saw my three other usual friends: Kairi, Hayner, and Sora. "Surprise!" they yelled with enthusiasm and zeal, but in different octaves and tones, which made it sound like various birds' battle cries.

Kairi held the rather large blue-icing birthday cake, hazardous enough to not drop it, while she stood next to the other boys. Her crimson red hair was radiating while her backdrop was the flaring sun-lit sunset. This was almost how everyone saw Kairi, with a nice accompanying backdrop. There was Kairi, with her sweet and innocent blue eyes appealing you to do what she requested and listen to the ridiculously colorful stories she's come up with from time to time. But then again, everyone did that in their lifetime; Kairi just so happened to have a beautiful ego to fall back on. She was still an admirable person, with a kind-hearted soul.

My eyes dawned on the cake she held. In the blue icing and in the center, someone had carved with their finger the message, "Happy Birthday, Rox-ASS". You can understand how much love I felt that day.

"HAAPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!  
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR ROXAAS!  
HAAAPPY BIRRTHDAAY TO YOOU!" cried out the four of them in a harmony. Sora belted the words out like an opera, relatively fine with getting estranged looks from me.

After their harmoniously off-tune appraisal of me, I thanked them and helped Kairi set down the cake. "Yo. Roxas, how old are you anyways?" Hayner said, walking up to me while Kairi cut the cake in slices. I looked to him and laughed. "You probably look, what, twelve? Thirteen?" Hayner snapped his fingers. "Fourteen," he called out sarcastically.

I stood to look him straight in the face. "Seventeen, Hayner. That's a year older than you...which means," I gasped for emphasis. "You're SIXTEEN," I said. Hayner scoffed, possibly denying his age.

"Maybe," Olette whispered under her breath, looking away from the two of us an our conversation. Together, Sora, Kairi, and I all cooed in an annoying synchronized manner that gossip girls are more prone to sputter. Hayner swiveled his glance to Olette, his eyes so vengeful, but he seemed to hold himself a little behind. He used a lot more gel today in his dirty blonde hair to have the sporadic "cool" effect again.

"Woah. Watch it, or else I might think twice about your request to 'go out' with you," Hayner replied, his eyes flaring a bit, which actually scared Olette a bit.

"Oooh, buurn," everyone chimed in, but Olette turned redder than a moogle's puffy antenna ball. Furiously defeated, she ignored Hayner for the rest of the evening, and Hayner did likewise.

"Let's get this over with," I finally announced. We all cut ourselves slices of blue-iced cake. Once we all got slices, we took our respectable places on the ledge of the bell tower. We had picked these spots according to age, and lucky enough, I was farthest left from everyone else, as the oldest. Next to me was Olette, then Hayner, followed by Kairi and Sora to tip it off.

I nibbled on the blue frosting, coloring my rough lips a rather smooth cerulean. Sora and Kairi pretended to feed each other fist fulls, while Hayner threw a piece at a flying pidgeon. After nearly dying my lips into a more unnatural shade, I began to notice that a familiar presence wasn't there with us. "Where's Xion and Pence?" I asked, wiping some collective frosting off from around my mouth.

Kairi wiped icing off her chin while the rest continued listening. "Xion's probably studying...Or maybe she and Pence have a date," she said, earning a grin from Sora. The rest of us huffed, especially me, since my specially severe obsessive compulsive disorder made me panic that two people were absent for no reason, leaving two gaps in our seating arrangement. It was usual Kairi humor, and we all knew that she shouldn't answer any question.

"Maybe we could do that too," Sora nudged at Kairi. He swooped his brown hair in that guyish way that would usually have made the girls in town swoon, but it didn't break her composure as she stabbed a piece of cake violently.

Kairi smiled, then shoveled the entire large cake piece into her rather sizable mouth—beautifully of course. "Sorry, kiddo. But no," Kairi said, followed by a smirk and muffled chewing. She just wasn't one of those girls that adored Sora's guyish charm. Yet.

The rest of us laughed evily. We all knew deep inside, even Xion, that Kairi and Sora were already a couple in training. It's just that they acted more of an older, crankly, less meaningful couple than a couple at all.

Kairi, Sora, Hayner, Pence, Olette, Xion, and I all formed ourselves into a group coined as the "Super Unimaginable Seven," or SUS Brigade. We all met at around the same time, and we formed our own "clique", as people would call it. The only thing that was different than most other groups was that we then divided the Super Seven into two separate groups based on who we wanted to be with the most. I had collaborated with Sora, Kairi, and sometimes Xion, who we barely saw due to some illness she hardly mentioned. We joined together because we felt closer to each other, and because we were all in the same neighborhood. Olette, Hayner, and Pence thus formed their own trio, and they would randomly invite us to their "Usual Spot", which was just a clearing spot behind a gate on a side street. Today, more than all of us were together on top of my actual least favorite place over a small piece of sea-dyed cake and my trivial birthday.

I shoveled the rest of my piece of cake into my mouth, scooping the remnants of frosting clean off the plate. Contrary to my belief, this cake was better than I'd thought. Salty, yet sweet. Salty cake may sound repulsive, but it's actually quite refreshing. Before I'd demolished that piece of homemade cake, I looked and saw that I had earned myself a cut of the cake that spelled "-ASS". Unbelievably, I felt honored by (obviously) Sora's friendly gesture.

"Hey, didn't anybody notice this yet?" Sora called out, blue icing surrounding his mouth. Everyone turned to acknowledge him, and they all pointed fingers at his face. He quickly took note, and licked the blue and white frosting around his mouth, giving us a few seconds to watch him do just that.

He continued. "If you take the 'X' in 'Roxas' out and switch the letters around, it comes out to 'Sora'! Whatdya think? Am I smart or what?" he announced, surprised at his finding.

"Oh yeah! Hey, I wonder if all names with 'X' have a secret name. You guys are probably like twins, or...the same person!" Olette gasped.

Sora and I looked at each other analytically. Same blue eyes, different shades of hair color, attributal spiked hair..."Sure, we're totally brothers," I said mockingly while Sora just continued lathering his mouth with blue frosting.

Meanwhile, the hard-thinker Kairi and not-so-hard-thinker Hayner had come up with a bright list titled "People Whose Names Include an 'X' ". It was actually pretty convincing when they switched the names around. Sora was obviously relishing in his newfound smarts, and we sat watching the rest of them carry out Sora's testings.

As the entire group had begun switching the letters of our school's dictator-principal Xemnas, I forked the remains of my cake and got off the ledge to get seconds. We laid the cake on the asphalt of the rooftop, but we did it cautiously, so as to not get dirt or debris on our cake. Kairi and Olette's parents helped bake it, see it as they ran a bakery. I kneeled and took the cake slicer to gather up pieces of a crumbling cake that had barely any attribute to it anymore.

While I pieced together some pieces of the cake back together, I heard the door creak open. My peripheral vision showed a large red blotch that didn't exactly look harmless, just a person. Usually there'd be nothing out of the ordinary here, but I still looked up from where I squat like a hungry hobo for cake. I saw brown flat sandals, faded dark jeans, a scarlet sweater, and the blue-eyed blonde-haired girl with them.

She looked no taller than me, and my estimation was that we were the same age. Her pretty face studied mine while I remained in silence. Her blue eyes reminded me of my eyes—they were the exact same shade of baby blue that I was famous for.

Her scarlet sweater was a recognizable feature. Three rather large buttons the size of chocolate-chip cookies flowed in cooperation with an almost-invisible line. It was all perfect symmetry to go along with my obsessive compulsive disorder.

At that moment, she finally broke the silence and my awkward staring. She lifted her head high, lit up a bright smile, and nonchalantly asked me a question. Those four words were my greeting. I sat in awe, cake still in hand. The group behind me still hadn't noticed that someone might join us. She had asked me, "Whose birthday is it?"

To be frank and honest, she was the prettiest girl that'd ever talked to me since I was five. This girl I'd never seen or met in my entire life. A girl unknown to everyone else; asking whose birthday it was. I didn't answer. I didn't have to.

There was a long silence, followed by Sora exclaiming, "MANSEX!"

* * *

**Notes**: In setting terms and some plot features, this is AU. Set in in-universe worlds. Roxas' POV. Open to flames, or constructive criticism. Please note any grammar mistakes, I'm sorry about that :c

**A/N**: I was inspired to quickly write a KH story because I was replaying KH 358/2 Days, and I had the urge to. Same with KH Birth by Sleep. I got the bundle! This is how I spend my money... :3 btw, Roxas' birthday, I made it up by the date 358/2 Days was released, just a little trivia fact :)

dedicated to all you lucky souls that are a part of one of the biggest and best fandoms in the world: Kingdom Hearts.

I **do not **claim to own the ownership rights to the series Kingdom Hearts and/or Final Fantasy. All rights go to their respective owners.

- revised 7 - 4 - 2011


	2. Incomplete

**A Scattered Memory  
**by CupcakeLerman  
Written on December 25, 2010  
dedicated to [ **Dark White Night **] :)

**Chapter 2: Incomplete**

I've never really had a girlfriend. Much less, a true best friend.

In fact, I'd never even had real friends up until the year I turned fifteen. Sora had been one of my friends since elementary school, sure, but we didn't see each other much, even if we did live in the same neighborhood, the Twilight Cliffs. He attended the same school as I, The Twilight Town Terraces High School, but we hardly saw each other. When we did see each other, though, he was like my long-lost brother.

Olette and Kairi were cousins, and they had moved into Twilight Town to start high school with the rest of us. Kairi was a grade below us, in the same as Hayner, Pence, and Sora. Olette, Xion, and I called ourselves "the elite" for being the oldest and a grade ahead.

The day they moved in was also the day I began to notice Hayner. Hayner was an outsider, the type that you had to ask a question to before they spurted into a lengthy in-depth conversation. He was apparently turned-on [ahem] to video games. I didn't know that fact until I invited him to my house and he immediately pounced on my worn-out Nintendo 64, showing me the controls for some stupid game where you beat each other up.

Olette was in my Algebra II class in freshman year. We sat next to each other, and being that I wasn't all that qualified for a Academy-type school, Olette helped me through the rigorous testing. My father was pleased with her grades, and he secretly arranged for her to be in all High Honors classes as a freshman.

My father is in fact the president of Twilight Terraces. The only problem is, he denies that I'm his son. Even after the DNA tests I ordered came up that it was "positively" my father, he shoved it away and went to one of his other children's houses. I grew up parentless because of that. Tifa, the foster care hostess that chose me as a child, was the one who took care of me. She was the helpful mother that I'd never had; my real mother was obviously dead. It's just my "Father" never really pronounced it; just like he'd never declared me his son. Tifa raised me right; better than anyone, even my true father, could've.

This whole scenario contributes to the depressing and lonely theme in my soundtrack. That's why if someone was eager to do anything for me, I'd appreciate it with my life, and I would most definitely take them in, friend or foe. _Especially if they were female._

**x.**x.**x**

This girl that approached me while I was leaning over a cake was waiting for me to answer. I stared blankly. She didn't seem all that stunned by Sora's comment; in fact, she cracked a small smile. I dropped my plate and walked around the sea-salt cake that lay there. My hands and feet, like my words, were stumbling everywhere. I mean, not that I was nervous or anything.

"I-I'm...I'm Roxas!" I finally managed, but it came out as a yell. I screamed it loud enough for everyone else on the ledge, mostly Kairi, to turn their heads at lightning speed.

"NEW GIRL!" they scream simultaneously. Hayner and Sora were scrambling over their feet.

"I'M HAYNER! NICE TO MEET YOU, PRETTY LA-" Hayner attempted. Sora butted him out.

"I'm Sora. Ignore the slob over there that said his name is 'Hayner'. His really name is 'Man whor-'" Sora playfully started before Hayner jumped him. This is what started their fight.

The blonde girl, on the other hand, looked a bit nervous. She shuffled her feet, but she stayed in place, fiddling with her fingers, and tugging at her sweater.

Olette stepped forward. "I'm Olette. This is my cousin Kairi. We'd be glad to be your friends!" she said. Kairi offered her picturesque smile.

This apparently made the blonde girl even more uncomfortable. Me, being my stupid idiotic self, had to screw it up.

"W-What's your name...? Cause my name is...Roxas…" I asked cautiously.

She stared at me for the shortest second, but in that second where our Aquarian eyes connected, I saw something. Something that sparked the past: a flashback. Snow, ice-cream, and a castle surrounded in a shroud of darkness.

Before I could recover, I discovered she had broke into a run down the steps. Her flip flops slapped against the metal, and it echoed until it stopped halfway down. It was just those blue eyes that startled me back to life.

"She was awfully hot," Hayner said, breaking the awkward tension.

**x.**x.**x**

School had just started again at Twilight Town Terraces High. It was turning a crisp autumn, and leaves churned on the still-green grasses. The Terraces were known to have the greenest grass anywhere, even during the winter, hence the name. It was also the academy for my local district, Twilight Town Cliffs.

It was five minutes before home room, and Sora and I were laying face-up on the luscious green grass. It was a week after my birthday, and I was hopeful for my first week as a seventeen-year-old. I took a fistful of the grass and felt the earth coating my hands. Sora was just resting his head, using his arms as a pillow, and he seemed to be closing his eyes.

"School's awesome, ain't it?" Sora said, a breeze threatening to tickle his words.

"Sure...is," I replied, obviously not agreeing.

Sora paused. I took this moment to observe the passing cars that left a residual breeze that brushed my face. "What do you think about Kairi?" Sora finally said, shocking me though. I sprung up, un-clenching my fist, letting the tufts of grass return to the earth. Olette and I had a pact not to reveal the fact that Sora and Kairi were to be together, just to toy with them more. I couldn't reveal anything just yet, or else I might miss the best self-inflicting confession Kairi or Sora would utter.

"Kairi's...smart? Athletic...Nice?" I offered diligently.

"No, I mean in the certain teenage-boy department," he implied. He finally closed his eyes as if to imagine pleasant thoughts. I knew where he was going with this. Hormones.

"Bro, I'm never going to tell you how I feel when your girl wears a tank top," I teased.

His blue eyes shot open, while a small blush spread across his cheeks. Still laughing, stood up and shook the grass from my pants, then made my way across campus to make it to homeroom, leaving Sora to stare at the back of my head. I walked under the marble archways and pathways etched with hints of silver to accent the greenery. There was a rising patio in the middle of the student commons, where we ate lunch and held uncommon pep rallies.

The entire school was a work of brilliant art. I'd heard from a son of my dad's that the school had been built way before the entire town was even formally founded. He also said that it was the largest school out of all the districts, or so he heard from his dad when they went on a fishing trip together. I punched him that day.

Nearing the student commons, I saw someone I knew. Someone I'd been just recently thinking about lately. _One more try_, I thought to myself.

As I approached him, I tried the subtle appearance. "Hey, dad, I was wondering-"

"Hey, little boy. Are you lost?" He had turned around to face me, our alike blue eyes piercing each other, and he had the balls to insult me. Again. No luck with operation "Get My Dad Back".

"No. And never mind, dad," I tossed in, hoping to season up the conversation. Maybe, I would get somewhere.

He laughed. He…laughed? "Oh, little boy, I mean, Roxas...that was your name right? I love it when you call me dad..." he said between haughty laughs.

He likes it when I call him dad? This was a dream crossed off my to-do list. A living dream for me. Operation "Get My Dad Back": Compl-

"...It adds to my public morale image that even the orphans call me Dad…" he continued with no concern for me. He patted my shoulder. "Nice chatting with you, _son_," he said before walking off.

_I hate him so much._

I knew I wasn't going to get lucky. I was probably going to get somewhere even with Tifa's boyfriend. Sulking, I retreated depressingly to my locker. Unluckily, me locker was next to happy-go-lucky super-model Kairi.

"Heey, Roxas! What up, son?" she greeted. She did _not_ have to add "son".

"Mmpph. I had better days," I shrugged. It was completely true. I opened my locker, slapping the plaid sticker on my locker to make it stick. I made it in the first week of freshman year almost three years ago, and intended for it to stay until senior year. "Roxas," it read very obviously.

Kairi was still way too happy. Today, she wore the tank top I was referring to this morning-er, several minutes ago-with Sora. I cracked a grin as I stared at her shirt, remembering what I said to her "boyfriend". Now that I think about it, I looked really creepy.

"What. Are. You. Staring. At..." Kairi said, breaking my smile. I looked up to her own blue eyes as she socked my blue eyes. I definitely deserved that.

Kairi stomped away, obviously not as happy anymore, leaving me to tend to my eye. I had no one else to help me; Olette had transferred to Twilight Town Public High School with Hayner and Pence. Xion, I knew, was absent today, as she was most of the time. Riku...oh forget about him. He never even showed up at my birthday. Some cousin he is.

I finaly realized that I was really desperate for a friend, someone to fully complete me. Sora offered some help, but it wasn't the biggest connection. Maybe I need a...a, uhm...a girl...forget it.

I opened my locker back up, attempting to ignore the peeling sticker. It was halfway off, and there was no way in hell for me to ignore it. I gave it the biggest slap I've ever given it, not noticing the still lingering pain on my recently-punched face.

I heard a jump behind me. Turning, I saw it was her-the blonde girl that showed up at my birthday last week, the one that stuck to me like a shadow. I'd been thinking about her, just discreetly. She was holding a stack of heavy books, and I had the sense to help her with them. She wore a normal jeans, gray skateboarding shoes, and a white tank top. What was up with tank tops today? In October, really?

She had a confident smile on, even when I knew I just startled her. She spoke to me again.

"Hello, Roxas," she began with her playful smile. Her smile…it reminded me of sunshine and flowers. _Real gay to think of, Roxas._

What was this, my mind playing tricks? Her voice, saying those exact words, they made no sense, like I'd heard them before. Same tone, just higher-pitched last time.

"Uhm...hi. Uhm, uhh.." I stuttered, not knowing her name. But wait…how'd she know my name? Maybe she previously stalked me before or whatever. I didn't know if I was supposed to be scared or flattered. I was ecstatic when the new girl said my name. She knew…my name!

"I'm new here, and I'd like to know how to get to-" she looked down on her stack of books in her hand, a piece of paper perched on top, so humble. "-Room 69A." she finished.

I felt a flush of relief. My homeroom. And we had-oh, two minutes to cross campus? Damn.

"Hey, uhm, that's my homeroom...I'll walk you, uh, actually run you over there. My name's Roxas," I finally managed, offering a hand for her to shake. Yet, I forgot she already knew that, suspicously. I couldn't help but get the feeling I'd met her before. I didn't even know her name, but I got the urge to call her a "friend".

"Oh," she said, looking at her watch. "Two minutes! We better hurry!" she took her free hand and locked it with my hand.

"Lead me!" she said, her eyes hopeful.

"O-Okay," I said. I grasped her hand, and took her along the hallways and mazes of Twilight Terraces High. Ignoring all the stares, I made my way down the halls, past teachers, past the gym, and finally into the A Wing of the campus. By this time, I was beginning to crave a break.

"Okay, uhm," I said between gasps. "46...53...67.." The blonde girl still had her books in a neat pile, all held with her right hand. I slowed down to give her some breathing time, but she looked like she didn't need it. What, did they do this as practice at her old school?

"Ahh, 69A," I said. I unlocked my hand from her's, and I was happy to. Hopefully she didn't think I was some sweaty freak.

"Thank you, Roxas," she cheered, bouncing on her toes. I stood, waiting for books to come falling down, but they were still in place, as if they were the light-weight version we high-school students dreamed of.

"No problem, Naminé," I replied nonchalantly, happy to help. But a second later, after I realized my words and she'd walked into the classroom, I finally remembered something: I forgot to shut my locker.

* * *

_Author's Note:_

THANKS TO **DARK WHITE NIGHT **FOR BEING MY FIRST REVIEWER! And thank you to the other readers who read Chapter 1 and didn't bother to review...gee thaaanks. kidding!

This was longer than I'd hoped, and I'm happy! Muahahaha. Any questions, just leave a review or PM me!

I have nothing else to say, except I'm playing Birth by Sleep. I got teh bundle. Let's all agree it's super shmexyily awesome...I just invented a word. :3

I stayed up all Christmas morning to get this posted, so say thank you! kidding, you don't have to, but yeah, this is my Christmas present for not updating in so many months...but my laptop wasn't working, so this was like three days late..and now, I'm off to play bbs[:

Leave a review, because I wasn't going to put this chapter cause I thought no one read it and liked it. Don't make me sad!

_merry christmas & happy holidays_ :)

\CupcakeLerman/ 12.28.10 [:

yay for the snowww :D

^ that's a spoilerr, right there. Take notes…


	3. Friends

**A Scattered Memory.  
**by CupcakeLerman  
written on December 29, 2010  
dedicated to the **reviewers** :3

**Chapter 3: Friends**

I literally waddled into homeroom just as the first bell chirped its dull tone: bleeepp. It wasn't loud, so sometimes, you had to strain to hear it. Either you'd listen for it and walk yourself to homeroom, or you'd get detention with either Xemnas, the dictator-principal...or the even worse punishment, my father, Mr. President. Now that I listened to the tone closely, it sounded like those noises you heard whenever someone cussed on television: a long and sour bleeeeep.

I sat myself down in one of the desks in the second row. Thankfully, I had secured the coveted window seat on the left of the classroom, and I greedily gawked out the window like I wasn't just outside a few minutes ago. A lot _did_ happen in those few minutes.

How did I know her name? Well, I did think I'd seen her prior to her arrival on my birthday, but I didn't think I was right. It was most likely just an instinct. I mean, she does look like a Naminé...Who am I kidding? The name had forcibly appeared in my head, and it was added to the end of my tedious "You're welcome". But the fact that I pulled it off so...so...so casual...was what surprised me. In my head, I promised myself that I was going to avoid saying her name; anything to make it seem that today was normal.

_Today was just full of surprises for you, Roxas, _I thought. First, I got punched by a girl, then, I seemed to know the ever-so mysterious heavy-book-lifting new girl. I saw this all as the worst omen dragging it's shadowy rain cloud over me. I could've even sworn I heard the tiny thunder.

I broke my gaze from the window to actually attempt to focus on the teacher in the front. He was the Literature teacher...Mr. Leonhart. He had muscle for a Literature teacher, and he also had tousled brown hair that reminded me of Sora's without any gel. Not counting the fact that he was the piss-you-off type of teacher, he aggravated me to the point of slapping a "_kick me, I'm an asshole_" sign on his back, then following the sign's directions. This man, Mr. Leonhart, was Tifa's new boyfriend. I'd seen him before at my house, and, let me tell you, there's nothing more sickening then seeing one of your teachers sucking face with your mom-I mean, guardian.

He was tapping-no, he was pounding-a fist to the black board to get our attention. On the board were the names of all us home-room students, as if it were the first day of school. I looked around, and saw that all of the other kids were also as confused as I.

"Don't stare at others, blondie," Mr. Leonhart barked loudly, and I snapped my head to the front. At first, I thought he was speaking to me, but the said "blondie" wasn't me-it was the new girl. She was sitting in the direct center of the classroom, two seats next to me on my right. Her head was turning opposite of me, as if she had been facing the windows. If she were really staring at the windows, then she'd also must've been staring at me as well. Why was I so interesting to her? Sure, she's pretty and seems nice, but I only wish I knew where this was all coming from. Her face looked a little pinkish, resulting in me to believe that I was the cause. I could feel the heat spreading through my own cheeks.

Turning back to the board and Mr. Leonhart slowly, I watched as he continued smashing on the board, obviously not caring if it were to suddenly shatter.

"Today, kiddies, we're going to do introductions. There's obviously a new girl in the room, and I wouldn't want her to feel...how do you say...left out," Mr. Leonhart announced, suppressing a laugh. I wanted to kick him for purposely trying to embarrass her, and it was only three minutes into a thirty-minute homeroom.

"Blondie, get up," he commanded to the new student while pointing to where he was standing. Her perfect blue eyes were stained with worry, as if she was going to break something on her way up to the front of the room.

Mr. Leonhart smirked; he obviously enjoyed toying with his students. This was proven when his eyes locked-on to the desk I was sitting in. I knew that he knew I was living in the same house as his girlfriend, and he obviously wanted to torture me in some way for my innocence.

"You. Blondie number two," he grinned, pointing a direct finger on me. He was obviously referring to me as "blondie number two" and not "Roxas" just to piss me off. I stood, angry at the fact of his satisfaction of ordering Nami-I mean 'new girl'-and me around the room like his lap dogs.

"Yes, Mr. Leonhart?" I said with fake consideration. There's no way I'm going to let him boss all of us around the entire year, but I'll play his game for awhile. The teacher curled his finger at me, indicating for me to approach him at the front of the room.

_What a jerk_, I smirked to myself. Taking small steps with caution, I approached the front, preparing for the second punch-to-the-face today. "Introduce yourself to Blondie Number Two," Mr. Leonhart instructed to the girl. "But don't spit at him. He'll probably get scared and most likely break something in this room," he mocked, his voice hinting false compassion for the furniture or his "students". "_I'll break you if __you want, Mr. Leonhart_,"I almost muttered too loudly.

I suppressed an evil smirk to Leonhart. "She knows who I am already," I growled, hoping to displeasure him. His wide evil grin began to sink, but he knew several ways to continue torturing me.

"Oh, you do now, Roxas?" Leonhart replied, not breaking his hard exterior. It was going to take more than stealing his candy to make this baby cry.

"I do know who he is," the new girl whispered behind Leonhart's back. "...and I do hope Roxas knows who I am," the new girl said in a hushed and hopeful tone.

This girl knows how to read my thoughts, doesn't she? I was almost scared to agree to myself that she had nice eyes if it meant her actually hearing me. "I know you. You're...uh, Naminé. R-Right?" I finally admitted out loud, pretending to not remember me returning thanks to her just before. Her name was like candy for my mouth to say. I wished I could repeat it just to enjoy the pleasurable ringing sensation of saying it. _Naminé_...

"Right, Roxas," Naminé assured me. I could feel too many eyes drilling into me. Besides Naminé staring at me behind Mr. Leonhart, I could sense the eyes of the rest of homeroom class 69A not leaving me...or Naminé.

For a few seconds, we were glued in time. It was only Naminé and I, standing at the front of an empty high-school classroom, staring into each others' faces. There were just those two crystalline eyes that literally stared into my soul. Everything about her-her lightly blonde hair, her carefully-tinted blue eyes, even her plain gray skateboarding shoes- they highlighted her best aspects. They made me want to be the lucky guy; the first one to speak to the new girl. And of course, the stupid image of Leonhart would cut me out, hiding the angelic figure of Naminé behind him.

He annoyingly interjected my moment with a retarded cough. "Ah. The happy couple. Everyone, applaud for Roxas and New-Girl Naminé," he offered, pretending to sniffle, as if he actually had a heart. The rest of the class wolf-whistled or screamed in delight.

Naminé was obviously feeling more embarrassed than what I was feeling, and for a second I was worried she'd pull a stunt similar to last week's up on the clock tower. Thinking that, I slowly began to fade into a different world. The sneers and snickering of Leonhart and the crowd of students were just mere background noise. I finally realized that somewhere inside me, I deeply cared for this girl's feelings. That meant I would do anything to comfort her, even if it meant fishing her out of the girl's bathroom.

The background noise cut through my realization, and I vaguely remembered I was standing in front of a full classroom with Naminé just feet from me. Well, at least, last time I checked she was. The snickers had come to a sudden stop, and I came to realize that Naminé had once again sprinted out of the room.

**x**.x.**x**

Being the good Samaritan that I am, I sprinted out the room as well. I took note of the gasping looks of the homeroom class and of Mr. Leonhart yelling at me, and I quote, "to get the hell into the classroom". I secretly hoped that teachers could get fired for cursing at students, or telling you to "get the hell inside". Is that even legal...? Oh right, Naminé.

It dwelled inside of me that I probably might have to fish little 'ol Naminé out from the girls' bathroom. Does it matter if there are other girls in there? Well, yeah it does, but hey, it's for a friend. I felt like daring myself to call out for Naminé, but that also increased the risk of getting caught "cutting" class. Passing courtyards, basketball courts, and several other students playing hooky, I felt like giving up.

I retreated to the greenery I was momentarily relaxing on with Sora just before. That felt like it had happened yesterday, and all I could remember were Naminé's eyes beginning to tear slightly. Even the sight of the small blush on her rosy cheeks would creep into me once in a while.

The clock above the student commons read that I had spent a grand total of twelve minutes in homeroom, while spending eight fruitless minutes searching for a missing girl. That left me with ten minutes before I'd never find her within the congested corridors of Terraces High.

It was so quiet that I could faintly hear the distant sniffle in the corner of the commons. Under one of the older granite lunch tables, I caught a glimpse of blonde hair peeking through a small opening. I couldn't focus on her hair because I estimated that she was shaking uncontrollably. Her hands were reaching up to cradle her head and protect herself. I now understood that she was terrified. I found myself crawling from the open green grass to the marble flooring of the lunch area. I quietly crept my way to under that one granite table, and in under fifty seconds, I was scrunched next to Naminé, wondering why I chose to do this.

"Roxas?" Naminé whispered. She was still shaking, but the intensity had decreased once I had joined her under the table. She gave me a half confused look, then a half relieved look.

I played it coolly. "...Hi," I replied, waving my hand to gesture 'hello' as best as I could under a three-foot-high roof.

She still sat staring a confused look at me, as if I just squeezed myself next to her in an uncomfortable position. Oh wait, I just did. My palms were starting to become shaky and damp, but I kept my courage up just for her. I smiled at her, acting as if we didn't just escape from homeroom.

Before I knew it, she had wrapped her arms around me, almost grasping me too tight for my likings. She was pulling me so close to her that I didn't just smell her shampoo, but also her laundry detergent. My neck began feeling like warm static was running around there, and I realized that she was hugging me on the same day I found out her name. That was fast. Does that mean...that we're _friends_?

It took me a couple of deep breaths of honey and lavender to realize that she wasn't hugging me.

"Holy shit, yeah I hate him!" mumbled a girl. She was sitting herself down at a regular table at the student commons, not realizing that two people were currently trying not to be seen. She was obviously talking rather loudly to her friend, but he or she wouldn't take a sit thankfully. I then remembered the voice as Yuffie Kisaragi's. She was a prominent member of Student Council, and she had the same homeroom as I. Which meant that she was most definitely talking about Mr. Leonhart. I couldn't remember Yuffie's friend's voice though.

Naminé was struggling to stay motionless and silent at the same time. She even tried subduing her shakiness by laying her cheek on my shoulder. I wouldn't be surprised if she had attention-deficit hyper-active disorder; she just continued to tremble so forcibly that I felt as if the table would begin to vibrate. That's when I wrapped my arms around her. Technically speaking, I was hugging her back.

I'll never know if the warm spot I felt on my shoulder was really Naminé's cheek warming up, but I continued listening in unintentionally on Yuffie's conversation.

"...Yeah, weirdest creep ever. Mr. Leonhart really has to stop living with his mom," I heard the other girl mutter in agreement. That day I learned that all of Mr. Leonhart's students despised him with a passion, and I bet that one day, we could form the official hate-club for Mr. Squall Leonhart.

"Yeah. Did you see the way he embarrassed Roxas and the new girl?" Yuffie asked. She was really speaking my mind today. I heard shuffling on the marble of the flooring, and I knew someone was joining their conversation.

"You ladies don't happen to be talking about me, are you?" I heard a dark voice boom. Apparently, Mr. Leonhart likes to prey on his students after classes. I was still asking myself if he was searching for us, and if this would get him fired for "losing two students on campus".

Yuffie got up, almost kicking my back in the process. I had gotten so comfortable under the table that I didn't even know I'd been stroking Naminé's silk-like hair. She obviously didn't put up a fight against it, so I subconsciously continued to pet her hair in a friendly way.

I heard Yuffie and her other companion arguing momentarily with Leonhart, then him giving up on the fight, then Yuffie telling her friend, "I have a free period for forty-five minutes; I'll meet you after Trig."

_Shit, shit, shit_. I almost stopped stroking Naminé's hair, and I felt her flinch several times. It was clear that we'd be extremely numb after forty-minutes under the table, and we couldn't stay embracing for another minute without letting go of each other, blowing our cover. Part of me wanted to stay lost in that moment just so I could resume embracing this honey-smelling huggable girl. But I knew I'd also blow our cover if I began to wither in complete embarrassment or shock. I had to devise a plan; something elaborate, sneaky, and clever. An escape plan.

* * *

**Note**: Woah, this is long. I didn't expect them to be under the table by the time this ended, but I guess that's how I was feeling...I literally just pulled this out of nowhere. It's a thank-you to all you reviewers! Oh, and are these chapters short to you? They're mostly 2,000+ words, but I keep getting the feeling that they're awfully short. Anyways, thanks for reading, and please review, telling me how it was…off to play bbs again:)

to **Violet X 10: **awh, that sucks. It actually might mean something. Or maybe I' just making it up as I go along…AXEL REFERENCE! xD


	4. Silent Companion

**A Scattered Memory.**  
By _CupcakeLerman_  
Dedicated to all Namixas fans. :3  
Happynewyeaar'11;

_**Chapter 4: Silent Companion**_

In the end, I ended up being too unintelligent to formulate an escape route. Although Yuffie _did_ cross her legs onto the bench, allowing us more room, we still had to try our hardest to not be seen. I still didn't know why no one spotted us; we could see them perfectly from under this granite table. _Why couldn't they see us? _I figured the heavy granite siding and the table legs really did add an extra hiding place. Meanwhile, Naminé and I stayed almost motionless, fearing the worst could come.

Naminé had uncurled herself about twenty minutes after Yuffie announced her free period. She cautiously wiggled out of my embrace, looking a little embarrassed. She mouthed, "Sorry," and I mouthed back, "It's okay," with a smile. We sat side-by-side, almost numb from the closeness, and I think it was just me, but it was beginning to get increasingly warmer under the table. Being that it was an outdoor commons area, there were only slight breezes under the table. Yuffie sat a little too stiffly on the bench, and I was beginning to suspect that she had discovered our hiding spot. Naminé, however, seemed content under the table. I almost wanted to ask her why she had the brightest smile on her face.

Under a table, next to a smiling girl, while skipping class, was unexpected for me. I also didn't expect it to be this boring. When you couldn't communicate with the person next to you, it's basically a living annoyance. Added to the fact that our necks were strongly pressed against the solid granite table and the back of our heads were in contact with even _harder_ granite made this whole hooky idea begin to sound worse and worse. I heard Yuffie unwrap something and chew on it, reminding me that I was hungry. _Very_ hungry. Almost ravenous. I started feeling delusional, imagining that the ground was moving or Naminé was sucking on her finger. Approximately ten minutes before this free-period ended, my hallucinations began to persist, worsening by the second. Now Naminé would always have her ring-finger near her mouth, almost as if she wanted to nibble on it. It took me several minutes to realize that she was really eating something; something on a plastic ring.

I wanted to desperately ask her what it was, just to make sure it was food. It looked like she really enjoyed it, and I was filled with envy. Whatever it was, I needed it, anything to stop the visions. There wasn't a way for me to talk to her without speaking. Unless, of course…

I pulled out my phone, filling with relief. Why didn't I do this before? Naminé turned in my direction, clearly seeing me taking out my phone. Her eyes widened, and truthfully, she looked cute with wide- eyes and her sucking on a ring. I began typing on the touch screen. "_Naminé_..." I typed, almost turning dizzy. "_What're you eating?_" She began grinning widely, and I thought for a moment that she'd laugh out loud at me. Handing her the phone, she began typing with her fingers, "_A ring pop, silly_." She handed the phone back, and I guessed she was laughing in her head. This was our first actual conversation.

"_Ring-Pop? What is that_?" I spelled for her. She was easily amused at my bewilderment, but hastily replied with one word on my phone: "_Candy_." She gave the candy a hushed lick to prove its edibleness. Oh right, those things are candy. They look like rings, but they had a gem-shaped candy on top. Hers happened to be green, indicating it was something watermelon flavored. I remembered back when I was in first grade, that I would always be eating those candy things. I quit the next year, but only because I wouldn't wake up from a "sugar-coma". I took the phone politely from her, and typed back, "_Oh, right_." I didn't have that many regrets when I finally typed: "_Can I taste_?"

My mind froze. I blame it on the hunger fantasies. I slowly handed the phone to her. She stared at the screen, almost like she was processing what was happening. It seemed like a long time before she finally replied, "_Yeah_", adding a smiley face.

She gave me my phone back, and then began twisting the ring off her finger. I held my hand out to reach for it, and I know I shouldn't do this, but I popped the candy in my mouth. It had the most watermelon-like taste I'd ever tasted; it was both sour and sweet. It felt a little warm around the candy, and I almost forgot that just seconds ago, this ring-candy was in Naminé's mouth. A light warm sensation crept up around my neck, adding to the heat. Naminé looked at me, most likely wondering if I liked it.

The fruit-tasting candy felt good on my tongue. Besides the fact that it was Naminé's and I barely had been with her for a day, it felt comfortable to finally taste this candy again. It was so long ago that I had tasted this, and it brought back bitter-sweet memories of first- grade and friends.

I gave the candy one last sour lick before I handed it back to Naminé, turning away to hide my embarrassment. What did I just do? That's humiliating to ask for a taste of someone's candy when you don't even know them. I kicked myself for being so careless. Naminé stared at the ring pop for awhile before finally sticking it on her finger and sucking on it, content with her candy. After this whole incident, we sat even more firmly, pressing the back of our heads against the granite in boredom.

What were we going to do? I'm pretty sure we'd find some amateur way to get caught, like one of us finally being driven insane and running out so fast, Yuffie wouldn't know what was going on; that was most likely going to be me. I let out a hushed sigh. We were just going to survive this the hard way.

To pass time, I took my phone back out from my pocket. Naminé looked at me and smiled; I knew she wanted to talk to me, start another less-awkward conversation. I decided to let her. I gave her my phone and watched as she tapped the screen, thinking what to talk about. I observed while she typed daintily, "_You skateboard?_" That was unexpected.

Maybe she was asking because of my rugged skateboarding shoes, or because of my random scars or the way I jolted whenever I'd twist my elbow a certain way. If we were really under here for that long, then this was definitely an issue. She probably can read me like an open book; she probably _does _know a lot about me.

I was a bit shaky, words coming up from nowhere in my head, when she handed the phone to me. "_Yup. My whole life," _I typed rapidly. The next part literally came up faster than word vomit, because technically, I was typing it._ "Somehow maybe it can become a profession…As if, right? I mean, what kind of cool job includes skateboards? Owning a skate shop, maybe_, _but I can't SERIOUSLY have a family when I own a skateboarding shop? I mean, then I wouldn't have to be here! Mybe I shld jst quit! Yeahh, I __shld quit!"_ I handed the phone back before I could mutter anything else about my life, like the fact that my mom's dating my literature teacher and my dad hates me. Hold on, maybe I shouldn't have said that. She might be able to read my mind. Roxas, what're you thinking? Just shut up and listen to her! I heaved a long sigh, almost like a stifled yawn.

Naminé took her time reading the message. There was a mix of confusion and sorrow in her expression for sure. But why would she pity someone like me? I could tell she typed back a meaningful response, one that took awhile to type and for me to read: "_You shouldn't quit_," she wrote. "_Otherwise, I wouldn't have a chance to meet you_."

She was still holding the phone when she showed me what she wrote. I beamed proudly, almost admiring what she wrote. I really _was_ fascinating to her. I didn't know why, but I decided that I would play a charade for her. Maybe, I'll ask her about it later. Once she knew I finished reading, she continued typing, until I saw the words "_Can you help me with my skateboarding?"_

She wants my help? She likes to skateboard? I took a glance at her worn-out skateboarding shoes. Maybe she does need my help. I nodded my head in agreement, while she smiled even brighter and nearly squealed. She gave me my phone back. She left a small smiley face on the screen as a note. _Her smile, _I thought to myself.

Noises were now coming from outside our huddle corner; noises that were too dreadful to be true. Back from our dream land, I glanced at my cell phone clock. It told me that I had five minutes before first period ended. I didn't know if I had more visions protruding into my head, but Naminé's candy had temporarily relieved that. _This was real._

"Sir Xemnas! Good morning, sir! How is your day so far?" Yuffie chirped almost too happily for a moment like this. Naminé and I are in such deep crap now. Naminé, however, wasn't acting that strange. She just froze in her spot and gave me a panicked look, still with a ring pop in her mouth.

"Ah, Kisaragi. Good morning; My day is going swimmingly so far. How is my star-student?" Mr. Xemnas replied back, almost evilly if you listened correctly. I heard Yuffie ruffle her hair, laughing. "I'm good as well! I had a free period today. What are you doing, roaming campus?"

You could almost hear Mr. Xemnas' stern expression, even under a table. His deep voice echoed throughout the corridor, booming with official power. "I'm afraid there might be a criminal on the loose her in Twilight Terraces. All the local high schools are taking precautions also. They gave us a flyer to make sure we check certain areas...such as in closets, vacant rooms, and _especially_ under all commons tables and ledges at all times. These things can hide a god-forsaken chocobo."

I didn't just freeze when I heard that; I almost stopped breathing. Naminé, seeing my distress and hearing Mr. Xemnas, also looked like she was suffocating. We both knew by instinct that if we were found ditching one of our first classes of the year that we wouldn't just be in crap; we'd be in deep _shit_. I had to think of something quickly, as in _three-second quick_. My mind raced back and forth between Yuffie and Mr. Xemnas' conversation, and to my phone. _My phone...other ditchers_. I dialed a number speedily, with Naminé staring at me expectedly and me hoping that this someone I was calling had their ringer on loud.

As if we had some kind of twin telepathy, the infamous class-ditcher of Twilight Terraces High came striding down a corridor, whistling a high-pitched tune. He wasn't aware of the oncoming danger on him of not having a bathroom pass. I heard shuffling noises, and a ringtone blaring. "DAMN, YOU'S A SEXY BI-"

I need to thank Sora for picking the best day to leave his phone on, and on loud. I also loved the fact that I set that as his ringtone. I knew he quickly shut it off, just before seeing the evil headmaster looming over him. I heard Mr. Xemnas give an evil snicker, Yuffie holding back her own laugh, and Sora's stumbling apologies. "I-I'm sorry, Sir. Xemnas! I was just...er…going to the bathroom!"

"Tsk-tsk, not going to work, son. You're coming with me, Sora, and we'll discuss your ringtone very vividly. Now, what did it say I was..?" I heard him drag away hopeless Sora, and I knew that he was most definitely going to kill me later. Not if my back killed me first.

I then realized this was our escape chance. The corridors and commons had been cleared, and Yuffie was still looking down the hall at Sora's misery. Naminé peered at me through wondering eyes, and she knew exactly what I was thinking. She nodded her head in agreement. With the victorious feeling I was getting, I hastily pushed the other granite bench, the one opposite of where Yuffie was sitting on, careful not to make any screeching noises on the concrete. Naminé helped by keeping watch and helping to lift the bench. I slipped through a small opening before sliding Naminé out by her hand as well. We gave each other proud high-fives, just as the bell rang again: bleeeep.

I couldn't even explain how victorious I felt when the hoards of people came out of the classrooms, and I'd realized Naminé and I had survived forty-five minutes under that table together. I turned to her, and before I could properly thank her, she lifted a hand to my face. Tugging at her ring finger, she placed a something small in my hand. People were beginning to stare a little.

"Here. This is for my thanks, Roxas," she said, beaming proudly. "And...after school, I'll be seeing you. Okay?" I was rendered speechless, but I quickly nodded my head. _After school_. We exchanged earnest smiles before she walked away. I almost expected her to give me a hug or something after what happened back there. She walked off, apparently to start explaining to her teacher her story. I didn't even talk to her about what happened in homeroom, but I felt like I lifted her mood and confidence just by being with her. I took a look at what she placed in my hands. Suddenly, I didn't care if people stared at the foolish grin on my face. I walked away, feeling extremely uplifted, all thanks to the small ring in my hand.

**x.**_x._**x.**

Staying during Yuffie's free period didn't exactly affect me and my schedule all that much. I just happened to skip Italian II with Mr. Estheim, so I was free, in a way. All it took were a couple pleads and a lame excuse that I had a migraine to clear me for forty-five minutes. The only horrible part was that my next class was with none other than Leonhart.

I slumped to my locker, Literature textbook in hand, and stepped into the classroom two minutes early. Lazily, I took a seat next to the door, this time to guarantee a hasty escape if I needed it. My hair was matted down a little from sweat, so I swat some out of my eyes. I wasn't all that nervous, and I credited it to the ring that barely fit around my finger.

Leonhart wasn't here yet, and I was extremely grateful. I prayed everything was going fine with Naminé, since I couldn't hang any more guilt on myself this morning. I'm sure she's having a fine first day. I also bet Sora wasn't so high in the clouds either, because he literally dragged himself into the classroom one minute before class began. Leonhart was not present yet, so I took a stride towards Mr. Grumpy Sora. He had the smallest pout on his face, almost like a playful smirk.

"Hey, mister. How is your day going?" I approached. His small pout widened a little, showing no signs of breaking. "Hey Roxas..." he said emotionless.

I patted his back and sat down next to him. "Hey...you don't look so good. You okay? _Daijoubu_?" I reassured him. He cracked a little, and for a split second, I saw the mischievous glint in his eyes, the playful smirk that showed his true self: the little kid I used to speak Japanese with. "_Onii-chan...Nichibotsu o issho ni mitai to omou_?" I watched his smile reappear when he remembered me asking to watch the sunset together, but quickly disappeared when he explained:

"It's nothing. Mr. Xemnas gave me detention for a month, scrubbing graffiti off the walls. All because..." He pulled out his phone, leaving me a little confused. "Some sneaky retard thought I wouldn't notice _caller-ID_."

Oh right. I almost forgot. I cracked a nervous smile as I saw Sora's expression change into another Sora. The evil one, I used to call him. I gave my last wish before I died: "Don't kill me, _onii-chan_."

When Leonhart finally arrived in class fashionably late, I had already recieved my second punch today. Not that I was keeping score, mind you. "Hey, class," Leonhart casually announced. "I am late...because my ever so favorite son was missing." Since when? It was the third time someone called me son today, and the second time I felt like punching the guy. My anger management is at an all time low, if you have not noticed. "But, no worries, class," Leonhart continued. "He's here, tardy as usual," he smirked. I clenched my fists and wouldn't let go until the end of class, after Leonhart continually pissed me off with instances where he'd recall the event from homeroom and pretend I didn't exist.

I eventually made it through the entire day unscathed from that point. Chemistry was the usual bore, but in the comfortable way. Mrs. Gainsborough promised she'd start helping me out with extra lessons, and I knew this was a perfect way for me to learn better. Lunch was fine; Sora had cooled down and was even casually flirting with all the girls, including Kairi, who told me my new ring was "stylish". They were the only ones of us present, so we just stuck together during lunch. It was the usual; but there was only one major difference. All throughout lunch, I couldn't shake the feeling that Naminé wanted to talk to me. I wanted to talk to her; tell her my apologies for getting her so much trouble in the past three or four hours. There was also a part of me that wanted to sit with her and talk about how life's going, the weather, anything, if it meant talking with her.

My eyes would occasionally scan the crowded commons area, the same place where Naminé and I hid. I almost half-expected her to be hiding under a table, sucking on a ring pop, but it didn't sound like something she'd do. Sora took a break from talking with the girls before turning to me and asking, "Yo, bro. What're you doing?"

"Huh? Oh, uhm, well, I was just...looking for Xion today," I panicked, pretending to look again. "Ahheheh, she's not here. Oh well!" I shrugged my shoulders, exaggerated, everything to convince Sora that I wasn't looking for someone else. He shook his head. "Okay, bro-migo." He returned to his lively and animated conversation with Kairi. The only person I could think of when I thought of girls was Naminé, the blonde that I had rebelliously ditched class by accident with and hid under a table with. I missed her terribly, and it was just a day. This was my _first _day with her. I couldn't wait any longer; I rose from my seat just when the warning bell rung it's sharp tone, indicating our next period was starting in at least three minutes. _What the heck, I can spare a minute for Naminé._

I left Sora and his posse to himself while I began pacing the high school crowd furiously, repeatedly swiveling my hair back and forth to find that silky blonde hair, the hair I'd felt just by accident. What I didn't realize was that there were most likely a hundred blondes in this school; it'd be like finding a needle in a haystack, but there was no one with hair like Naminé for sure. I gave up on trying to find her, and I retreated back to my locker in the Terrace Hall, remembering the dreadful subject period I had next.

Beloved trigonometry, with dear Mrs. Estheim. What a joy to add to my growing list of amazing achievements today. Trig passed by faster than I thought. After a couple teases from some students about her being the Italian teacher's mother, and after a couple of beatings to said students, the class was over. Once again, one of the only thoughts that appeared to me were all short-lived memories of Naminé. I felt like I should've been calling her _sweet-dear _Naminé, but I knew that wouldn't progress anything in our "freindship". And besides, I don't think that would sound so cool, calling someone _teddy-sweet-dear_.

I mindlessly walked myself to the Calypso Hall, a separate building just for electives, to make it to my own elective. Mr. Fair, my mentor/overseer, invited us to join to learn the ropes on how to fix things, but mostly all we did was ride around broken and new skateboards. I hope that somehow in my future, I'd always incorporate the values I'd learned in Mr. Fair's class. By far, his class is the only class I ever feel truly inspired; Mr. Fair, or Zack as how he asks us to call him, honestly teaches us how to do things the best way. I'll always remember everything he's taught me. This class made me feel calmer all the time.

"Roxas! How's my favorite?" Mr. Zack called to me from the backroom of our Elective Room. It was one of the biggest rooms in the entire Calypso Hall, and we took pride in the care and craftsmanship shown by all of us. I walked into the back room to greet Zack. "Good afternoon, Mr. Fair. I see you've got your hands full," I said while placing my backpack on the ground. Mr. Fair was tinkering with an old piece of a skateboard.

He shrugged in agreement. "Guess so," he replied, continuing to tinker along. "Can you hand me the measuring tape?" he asked. I handed the tape to him from a nearby desk. "Thanks," he said. "Like the ring." I laughed at remembering how I got it. "Hey, thanks." Later, I rummaged through my backpack. Considering I was early, I'd get started on our elective week project. Mr. Fair rolled out the tape and measured the wood. My expression must have been distressed or something, because Zack stopped measuring with his tape.

"Something the matter, son?" he asked me, putting away the tape and scooting closer to me. He was actually the only one I could trust with a lot of my troubles and the one I would occasionally slip a greeting like "Dad". To me, he was the father I had never had, since I never really had one. On this day that I had once again been rejected by my dad, I let him call me son. Shrugging my shoulders didn't settle his question.

"Hey, Roxas. You know you're one of my favorite students. You know that you could talk to me about anything. Is it your dad...?"

"Can you not mention President Strife to me, please? It kind of...irks me," I replied.

Mr. Fair ruffled my hair. "Okay. But don't start cursing him out while I'm around, because he's a good friend of mine." He rose slowly. "Honestly, you'd be lucky to have him as a father. Honorable dude. We used to be in Soldier together."

"Right. War. I know. I'll remember that, Mr. Fair." I wondered if people acted differently because of war. The way Mr. Fair talked about President Strife was like he was the nicest person on earth. I would never consider him nice unless he accepted me for who I really was. Ha. If that day would only come sooner.

It was time for elective class to begin. General Mechanics department was putting together spare parts to build a much better skateboard. Or maybe even one that went as far as defeating the purpose of skateboarding by using small-part mechanics that fit into the small slot of the wheel to actually propel a skateboard so it could fly, and to do that we- never mind.

I sat next to my other good friend Ven, who really was a nice kid to know. We're often called brothers since we look exactly the same...but we're only friends. He's quiet and reserved, which is somewhat like me. Sora is also best friends with him, since they're neighbors. He's also not bad when he's fixing crap up; he _is_ better than me. "Ven. Hey. Dude, how was your weekend?" I asked him. He too was playing around with a skateboard wheel.

He looked over at me. "Hey, twinner. Uhh...my weekend...cool. Usual," he sighed. "Nothing but Pocky and video games."

I cracked a smile. Usual Ventus. "Nothing's changed, huh?" I said, and he gave a small nod. "Seems like yesterday I was over at your house playing video games and eating truckloads of Pocky..." I recalled.

"_Seven_ truckloads of Pocky," Ventus added.

"_Seven_ truckloads, Ven," I said to him, continuing on my project.

The rest of General Mechanics class was the usual. After several mishaps and broken parts, we fixed up some skateboards, added some parts to our old projects...all until the ending bell rang, and our continuous rhythm of fixing was broken. I said goodbye to Ven and Mr. Fair on my way out to make it to my second elective period: Musical Appreciation, in which I played guitar. I picked up my guitar at my locker and walked across to the corridor before General Mechanics to the Musical Artistry corridor. _This school's a whole mess of electives_, I thought.

I was disrupted from my thoughts when this small petite blonde walked into a corridor next to mine. I only saw the back of her head, but I could see her tattered gray skateboarding shoes; the ones I actually admired. "Naminé!" I called. "Naminé! Hey, wait up!" Was it just me, or was she quickening her pace? She flew past several other students. I had to breeze behind them, closely trailing Naminé. I wanted to at least properly thank her for the ring pop and for being nice enough to say thank you. I also wanted to ask about our meeting later. But right now, I couldn't find her anymore. I didn't even know what elective she had. So as the warning bell went off, I had to scramble to actually make it to class.

Music Appreciation wasn't bad. Mr. Rhapsodus, the eccentric instructor, was the only bad part. This guy looked as if he could be best friends with Mr. Leonhart or bitter rivals with Mr. Fair. He did teach wicked guitar skills and all, but he just wasn't my all time favorite teacher. All that was on my mind that period was the thought of Naminé. _Was she avoiding me because of embarrassment?_ I thought she was sort of obsessed with me. There was something about Naminé that intrigued me enough to pursue after her- every little detail about her.

It wasn't in the creepy-stalker way, but in the _she should be my best friend _way. I didn't know if she'd actually felt the same way, but I sure bet she did. Before I even blinked, I found that music appreciation was over, and so was the day. That meant I must've dozed off during my free period after music. And that sucked, since it was the only free period I had all week. I spent the entire period thinking about Naminé, which obviously meant something. The only thing I remembered from last period was me thinking about the end of the day; when I'd finally see her again. So I sprinted home as soon as the last bell of the day rang tonelessly. I changed out of my clothes, sprayed just _one_ spray of cologne, and got on my skateboard. Today was going to be _flawless._

_

* * *

_

_Yes, Yes, I know this is late. I seriously wanted this up first week of January, but as you all know...PHAIL. But the highlight of this month has been the **reCoded release party** in New York City. Thankfully, I wasn't the oldest one there. I left early, only because SOMEBODY called me to show them their new couch. I thank that person so awfully much for making me **not **buy reCoded early. btw, did you people play it? It is **not a waste of time**. Any Kingdom Hearts game is **NOT A WASTE OF TIME.** Just saying. Oh, and the 3DS is coming out in March in America, so you know what that means..._**3DS = Kingdom Hearts 3D**. _The last game before the official series' ending. SOB._

_And on January 13, I finally became more than friends with my best friend. For Christmas, he bought me Kairi's chain on a necklace, and I didn't know he did it until I met him the day after, and he was wearing Namine's chain on a necklace. He's so cute._

**Next update: **_February. _I am that lazy.

**Please review if you liked it or hated it!** _Arigatou! _


	5. Silence Broken

**A Scattered Memory.**  
_by CupcakeLerman_  
I've decided to dedicate this chapter to [**Pandamon**] for making me want to continue this faster. Glad you liked it :3

And **Dark White Night**, you're so cool. I really like getting reviews from you! xD

**Chapter 5: Silence Broken.**

Since today was officially going to be the best day ever, I had to make it appealing to not me, but my acquantaince of the day, Naminé. I began treating the day like I was courting a queen; spraying on a reasonable amount of cologne, chewing a stick of gum, putting on fresh clothes and my skateboarding beanie hat. Naminé, being the new girl and all; I wanted to make a good impression just in case she'd have to go bail me out of jail anytime soon. _Because that's what friends are for._

My gray skateboarding shoes squeaked a little when I walked around my kitchen, looking for a drink before I left. Tifa, or mom as I'd sometimes call her, wasn't home until five in the afternoon to cook dinner. I filled a glass with clear water and gulped it down. Wiping my hands with my white sweater, I approached the door, squeaking on the way there. I remembered to take my own checkered skateboard, bringing my extra as well. Shutting the door behind me, I proceeded to walk down our small porch steps. It would take almost five minutes to get to school, three minutes on skateboard. I laid my skateboard onto the pavement and kicked off the ground. Thankfully, the streets were well-paved and nearly car-less. All that came to me was the alluring scent of non-overpowering fragrance and the feeling of the other skateboard in my other hand. I pushed streneously back to Twilight Terraces.  
There were still people lingering around campus, chatting with teachers or friends. I quickly hopped off my skateboard, now holding two in my hands, and started looking around for Naminé. _Where is she...?  
_  
_Tap Tap_. I was looking through a window when I turned around to face my skateboarding student for the day. She was smiling widely, and I figured, why not?

"Naminé! There you are!" I said, putting both of my skateboards down. When I wrapped my arms around her to greet her, I felt her hands slowly lifting up to return the greeting. This was it. I was hugging her, for real now.

"Roxas. I was...wondering where you were," she said, pulling her arms back, releasing me. "I was beginning to think you left me," she added with a little grin.  
I smiled proudly. "I'm sorry. I just went home to get my skateboards." I gave the skateboards a small nudge. She held her giggle lightly, and it made me crack a smile. She was just this great presence I couldn't stand to not be in.

"Can we start now? I want to become pro fast," she said, lifting up a skateboard casually. It was my older plain black skateboard, the one I'd used when I was just learning. She propped the board vertically, holding the front with her hand while the bottom hit the floor. This girl already looked pro just holding the skateboard.

"Fine, but don't get cocky because you know a thing or two," I teased her, poking her side. She suppressed a smile that showed how she found it entertaining. She was ready. "I won't..."  
I taught her the basics: kick-peddling, jumping, grinding. She was a quick learner, assuming that she knew what she was doing. She didn't require any more attention. In no time, she perfected the art of kicking-off and rolling. But the trickiest part by far was starting to teach her how to do standardized, yet flamboyant tricks, like 360 degree Method Grabs, ollies, and kick flips. She kept falling and scraping until I couldn't take seeing her bruise any longer.  
Before she could tumble backwards again, I lifted her under the arms back to standing position. "Naminé, listen to me. It's tricky, and it took me several hundred tries, so don't strain yourself. You'll get it next-"

"No, Roxas! I have to try this! I am going to get this!" she shouted forcefully. Tears slightly brimmed her eyes, running an extended puddle around the edges of her eyes. The way she yelled at me-it showcased determination and strength I couldn't see that much yet. By that moment, I could tell she would be anything she dreamed about being; this girl was even more determined than me. She was holding the skateboard like she knew she wasn't going to let go before she got it. "Wow...okay. Determination. That's a good sense of courage you got there," I said, a little surprised.

She retracted, gasping at her words. "I'm sorry. It's just, I don't have all the time in the world to learn skateboarding," she apologized, rubbing her hair.

"No, it's fine. It's my fault. We should quit for today. Tomorrow we could practice again."

"Tomorrow. Okay. Thanks Roxas," she said. "But, before we go...I wanna try something," she turned around, propped the skateboard down, and straightened her posture. "Watch this."  
I watched as she kicked off the asphalt forcefully, gaining speed quickly, enough to ruffle her clothes. Next thing I knew, I was running towards her, yelling, "How'd you do that?"

Stopping at the end of the street, she looked back, smiling proudly, knowing I was watching and finely approved. The way she lifted herself in the air, as if she was gliding, did a full 900 degree flip, landing onto a ledge, grinding, then doing a full asphalt-burning turn: it was way too professional for me. It would've taken me at least sixty tries to attempt a 900 before grinding. And a 900 degree thing, that's real professional; only one person on the planet knows how to do it. Well, now two.

"Let's just say...I know a thing or two about skateboarding," she said, hiding a sneaky smile. Remember, I just asked for some help, not a tutorial." Holding out her hand, she was offering me my skateboard back. "Keep it" was all I could say. It was all that could come out of my mouth. She grinned, and replied, "Keep the ring for me too."  
With that, she walked away, leaving me once again speechless.

—- - - -

"Tifa! Tifa, I'm home!" I called out to my guardian. She was sitting in the living room, going over a catalogue. Her daily job at a parcel delivery service allowed her to come home early and on time while still having an earnest income. She looked up from her catalogue to greet me. "Hello, Roxas. Tell me, is my hair really that long?"

I took a glance at her long and dark hair. Yes, it was long, but in the sense that if it was cropped shorter, it'd look awkward. "No. It's perfect."

Tifa smiled at me brightly. "Why, thank you honey!" She set her catalogue down on the coffee table. "So tell me. How was school? Did you go somewhere after?"

I gave this some quick thought. "School's...o-kay. And I was out skateboarding." I went and took another cup out of the cupboard and filled it to the brim with water. I took a quick swig at the glass, then returned to talk to mom.

"Did you see Sora?" Tifa asked.  
"Yeah, I saw him." I replied.  
"Tell him I said hi tomorrow."  
"Okay mom." I swifty glanced at the clock, and it was now six o' clock. "I'm gonna go do my homework now."

Mom looked at me and then reached for her catalogue again. "Okay, I made dinner. It's on the table if you're hungry."  
"Thanks, _mom_." I told her.  
"No problem." She walked out of the living room to the first of three bedrooms. The second was mine, and the third was for whenever Tifa's friends showed up and needed to crash. I made my way down a rather thin hallway and into my room. Sitting on my bed, I stared a little at the house just over the next street. It was large, no doubt, but what ticked me off the most was that it was _his _house. That guy I despised with all my being; he was _residing_ in that filth of a building.

Glaring lights, long winding pathway, showy house; it was all his. At least five cars—two of them sports cars—lined the coblestone driveway. It was a big showoff to our shared bicycle and my skateboards parked in our "driveway". What a show off. I didn't ever want to see that house again, no matter how long I lived across from it. All the tawdry accesories were unnecessary, things I shouldn't care about. The only thing I should care about is my meeting with Naminé again, or moving out for college and anywhere _away from him_.

The next morning, I met up with Naminé in the front entrance of school, since we shared the same homeroom. Walking in the open-air halls, we chatted about herself. She said she had just moved in with her father after not seeing him for most of her life. I told her she way lucky she had a father, but she only nodded off, like she was agreeing. I found out she liked artistry as much as she loved skateboarding, and she did the normal girl tasks. She'd shop for her family—which was quite large actually—and she was quaintly living with them as of now. I imagined my own life the way she did: my actual family that cared about me, an actual home that felt like home, and friends that actually acknowledged me. Of course, I had that already, but I felt as if something were missing.

Before I could forget, I asked, "Hey, wanna come hang out with me and my friends this weekend?" I was referring to the usual SUS group, since we usually spent our weekends as a group. Naminé and I were approaching our homeroom, and I could almost hear Mr. Leohart's drabble from down the hall. I didn't realize Naminé was trailing farther behind me until I turned to face her.

"Naminé?" I asked. "You okay?"

"I can't meet your friends," she quickly said.

I walked over to her. "Why not? They're not that—odd."

She hastily shook her head. "I can't."

"C'mon Naminé. It'll be fun," I tried telling her.

"I'm sorry...I just can't...bring myself to."

I didn't know what she meant by that, and I couldn't ask her what she meant, because we were quickly rushed from behind by the incoming crowd of students rushing to first period. We were shoved into Room 69A, and by some miracle, I found the same spot I had yesterday. When homeroom finally started, I tuned out Leonhart's chatter and stared out the window. Naminé was almost burning holes into her desk for staring at it so long; I guess she was just avoiding eye contact with me. What had she meant—?

Turns out we didn't have anymore classes together on this day. Lunch breezed past with passing talk about weekend plans in the middle of the week, and it was a little more exciting because Xion had decided to join us. Riku was still "absent", so we had to make do without him.

"So—mall, park, or just walking around the neighborhood," Sora said, laying out his agenda. He was delivering this message to only Kairi, Xion, and I, since Riku was not present and the Usual Gang was busy. I nervously scanned the cafeteria to find that familiar blonde haired girl, the only one I wanted to hear more of. Kairi tapped my shoulder.

"You okay?" Kairi asked, sounding concerned. "You look kind of...dizzy."

"What? No, I'm fine," I quickly told her.

"Trust me, Kairi—something's up with him," Xion whispered to her, although I heard her.

"What? No, I'm—"

"It's probably a GIRL," Xion whispered.

I was beginning to turn redder. "Shut up, Xion. You know it's not a girl."

"Is it the baseball captain's girlfriend, Selphie?" Kairi said excitedly. "Because if it is, that is SO cute."

"One, she isn't my type. Two, she has a boyfriend. And three—"

"Is it the new girl Rikku who barely wears clothing?" Xion added, making _"tsk tsk"_ noises. "That would be real low..."

"What? I've never seen this Rikku, and—"

Sora leaned over the table to get in my face. "Lemme guess. Is it a GUY?"

I had to slap him a little. "No! It's—I have a lot on my mind. About this weekend," I somewhat lied.

He rubbed his cheek before saying again, "Okay. But chill dude. You're so angsty sometimes."

"I know, I know, I'm taking my meds every night," I joked. We all laughed, which felt like something I hadn't heard in such a long time. It was good to have friends and all, but I was still wondering about Naminé again. Whatever I'd be thinking, she'd always come into my thoughts again.

My last class was once again my Engineering class, and I took my usual seat next to Ventus. He was already there, his head lying on the desk, and he was smiling widely.  
I dropped my bag on the floor. "What're you happy about, Ven?"

He didn't lift his head, but he knew I'd entered the room. "You're thinking about someone right now."

"Yeah, I'm thinking about how crazy you are," I said jokingly.

"No, I mean, someone else—a girl, particularly."

"Dude, that's like the second time today. It's not true," I said, glancing at the clock, eager for class to start.

This time, Ventus lifted his head a little. "See? You just shifted your view from me to the clock. You're wanting for class to start now. For me to shut up. It's obviously a girl."

"Hey, I just wanna get through school. Just—drop it," I said, almost pleadingly. It was irking me how it felt a lot like middle school again, how whenever you talked to a girl, people thought you had a crush on her.

"Fine. But you know, I'm always here, twin," he said, lifting his rested head off the table.

Before Engineering typically began, the intercom blared it's tone that symbolized an incoming announcement. We all heard the overly-preppy voice of the secretary, chirping, "And now, a message from President of Twilight Terraces High School, President Cloud Strife!"

I was preparing to tune out the drabble I was about to hear from my dad. His dramatically altered deep voice rung through the halls, and I just stared at Ven questioningly. He had no idea either.

"As you know it is October. And a customary holiday known as Halloween is coming around. . ."

Ven snickered. We _now _both knew what this was leading to. It's this Twilight Town tradition to scare the crap out of each other every Halloween; it's sort of the town holiday—hence, Twilight Town...

He continued talking about the event. ". . .So it is time to announce the annual 'Twilight House' Event. Yay..." I heard from the intercom. His mood was so far so enthusiastic about this thing.

He explained the usual rules. Each elective hall we were in now was considered our team. As a team, we would come up with ideas on how to decorate our hall as a "House of Horrors", so to speak. The winners would get pride, recognition, and 9000 munny, but it wasn't solely on the prizes. We Twilighters believed it was a time for revenge.

Several years back, the tradition was revamped and it was a big thing in this school. I'd heard legends of 'scared to death' pranks and 'pee your pants' jokes and the classic 'scared and hug the closest person next to you' renditions. Xion and I had rendered our edition and sampled it on Sora and Kairi last year, and, using a little of smarts combined with a fish net, fish hooks, and the classic 'slippery floor' sign, we fooled the duo to go in alone. So after that, we would get an experience we'd never forget. They're still getting back at us for last year.

I was prepared to lay my head down and listen to the steady hum of the intercom, but then President Strife said, "Oh, but there's a catch."

I sat up, looking around the rest of the class to see their reactions. They were all questioning, and Ven's especially, since he already had a formula planned out, since he was the notorius class planner.

"You only have two days, you will be partnered with a neighboring elective hall, and—one boy only works with one girl, one girl only works with one boy—no exceptions." Facepalm. "That is all." Click.

"Dude, our only hope now is for you to join art and dress up as a girl," I heard Ven claim.

"Shut up. We still have some hope," I anxiously replied. True, we were paired with the Visual Arts Hall, but I didn't mind at all—the more detail the better. Actually, a pairing with them would be nice. "We still have a shot. Visual Arts geeks are cool."

Ven nodded. "You only say that because we're engineering geeks."

I nodded. "Right."

Mr. Fair snapped our attentions to the front of the room. "Alright, you heard him—ideas. Don't be shy; I don't bite." He slammed a palm on the desk. "Unless your idea sucks."

No hands raised. An eerie silence dawns on us, only to be stereotypically interupted by a sudden cough.

He clapped his hands together as if we accomplished something. "Okay. We'll be heading out to the Visual Arts Hall to collaborate. You heard the rules; since you are all guys, line yourself with one girl in the Visual Arts Department. Go, before all the pretty ones are gone," he shooed us off in a joking manner. We all rose and walked off. Ven partenered himself with a blue-haired girl in a skirt who seemed happy they were problem for me was that I didn't know anyone in the Visual Arts Electives. "Damn, I hope I get the new blonde chick," I heard one guy mutter to his friend.

No way. _She did say that she liked art._ I walked next to them, not looking at their faces, and said, "Already taken."

—-—-—-—-—-—-—

As soon as I saw Naminé as I expected in the Visual Arts Hall, we had an immediate and mutual understanding that we'd team up, even if we didn't speak and she was a whole corridor away from me. I pushed through the fighting crowd to get my way to her. I took her wrist, gently tugged her along to my elective room, and we started brainstorming, partnering as best as lab partners. She explained high spirals, non-cheesy pop-out characters, and a whole artillery up her sleeve. I loved how she talked so enthusiastically about this, even when she was new.

At one point, she looked to me and smiled eagerly. It was just her first week at school, and she was already happy as a clam. This carefree and unassuming girl really had me tugging at the reins, wanting me to go faster to find out more, risking even the slightest mishap to cause a great collision.

* * *

A/N: Thank you for reading! If you read this every time a new chapter comes out, tell me. You'll deserve an award! Tell me your feedback as well. Oh, and here's something noteworthy: I DEFEATED SEPHIROTH. What? In the 3-4 years since it's release? Shut up. I'm very proud of myself. And it was actually my roomie's. xD

I'm also thinking about expanding my chapter's minimum word count to 6,000. This means more description, expanded voacbulary, and a lot more events each chapter. This has to go a little bit faster paced, while being relatively fair. I want a chapter up JUST ON Valentine's Day, which, as you know, is in nine days. Wanna bet I can put the next chapter up? Oookay :3

Thank you to all the dedicated reviewers, I really think you guys are cool. Till Valentine's Day :3

cupcakeL e r m a n.  
02/05/2011.  
_if I...ever start to think...straight...this heart will start a riot in me..._


	6. Decisive Twilight: Part I

**「****Scattered Memory」  
**by CupcakeLerman  
**02-14-2011: Happy Valentine's Day!**

Dedicated to **mousehole** ;  
I can say this is an special chapter, which includes a Special Author's Note Below!  
The spacings **messed up**; please ignore it, and I'm sorry about the scene changes; I'm really tired and I kept my promise; It's 11:45 pm, and still Valentine's Day :D

**Chapter 6: Decisive Twilight: Part I. **

Three days until Halloween. Nearly eighteen days brainstorming with Naminé, and only her.

Together, Naminé and I were able to join our ideas together to form one big master foil-proof plan. This year, our layout was to not prank anyone, no matter how much revenge I wanted to sink in. We accorded that we should stick to it for mere entertainment and maybe, possibly, a little scheming. She'd come over to my house from the library and shown me classic haunted houses that didn't play the cheesy card, but the play-with-your-fears deck. Meanwhile, in return for walking all the way to the library, I'd give her more skateboarding lessons. She was improving well, and we even judged ourselves against each other using minor scoring, with her sometimes pulling the 900 degree stunt again, and me flipping out at how I wasn't able to do it.

I discovered Naminé was so much of a pleasure to be around. I'd never thought someone like her would become friends with me. We didn't like the exact same things, but the fact that she was a worthy listener and the truth that she understood my dealings was what really intrigued me. She'd always offer a smile on my gloomiest of days, and she'd calm me down when I was feeling angsty.

As a result of my profound interest in getting to know Naminé, I had forgotten about our monthly meeting in the Super Unimaginable Seven group at Twilight Town. Quietly, I began to lose interest in sitting with Kairi and Sora at lunch (especially when they were describing their entire layout of their Twilight Horrors House in front of me as if I didn't exist). All I really wished was to talk with Naminé again. No matter how hard they tried, I didn't feel—right, sneaking around with a friend other than Sora or Kairi at school. I'll try to explain to them someday that high school is a time for new friends also.

Naminé and I worked hastily to perfect our idea. Of course, we were allowed to express our ideas to the teachers, so Naminé and I approached Mr. Fair and the Art Department's Mr. Marluxia, or as I like to call him, Mr. Marly. Naminé forewarned me about Mr. Marluxia, who would constantly torture his class—specifically Naminé—by forcing them to draw him randomly selected scenes, no matter what degree of horrible ingenuity and undeniable lack of creativity they had. He was new here this year, but of course, he had to have the stuck-up quality some teachers sadly possessed.

Naminé and I proceeded to explain our ideas while standing at least six feet away from the teachers, just in case they didn't appreciate our project. We described the fundamentals of keeping it more paranormal than corny. We mapped out our ideas carefuy, letting them take shape into what they wanted to be molded into slowly, but gradually. Mr. Marluxia and Mr. Fair looked fairly pleased. They even gave each other looks of approval while we presented our ideas.

"Well done, my pupils," Mr. Marluxia said in a slightly-forced thickly accented voice. He flipped his pink magenta hair to one side of his head, surprising me, since, only girls did that.

"Yes, indeed. I'm very proud of you, Roxas, Naminé," Mr. Fair added deeply. "I am quite reassured that we will win this year with you as a team."

I gave him a thumbs-up. "You bet we are." Naminé stood by my side, crinkling a piece of paper in her hand while smiling at her mentors.

"The group discussions, in which all teams have to be present, will be this afternoon. Do not be late." Mr. Marluxia swiftly left us and walked off to probably discuss things with the other groups too. I think it was just me, but he looked as if he was—smirking, grinning?—no, he was snickering to himself.

Before I was about to leave, I felt a strong hand grip my shoulder. "Hey, Roxas," Mr. Fair said. "I need to ask you something." He eyed Naminé standing next to me. "Alone." I glanced to Naminé, and we had another mutual understanding. She bobbed her petite head and walked off to the exit, while I kept wondering how we were so intertwined that all I had to do was nod.

When she was out of sight and most likely out of listening-distance, Mr. Fair asserted his important message to me: "Tell me; Are you crushing on the new girl?"

"What—?" was all I could manage. "No, no—she's just a new friend, one that I've taken the liberty of giving her a grand tour and treating her nicely," I argued politely.

Mr. Fair grinned in a sly way. "You keep telling yourself that." With that, I just waved him off, along with the thought of me liking Naminé to that degree. _It wasn't possible, right?_

I met up with Naminé at the commons, where she sat herself down at the table we had "shared" the beginning of the month. It seemed so long ago when we'd been there, from the ring to the skateboarding tutorials, to coming closer to her, to today. My head was reeling at all this, and it was only eleven o'clock in the morning. She saw me walking towards her, and closed the sketchpad we'd been using for our ideas. "You remember this table?" she said, pointing a finger downwards.

I laughed in remembrance. "Oh, right. Those were good times," I told her, taking the bench next to her. She moved her bag, and replied, "I'll definitely never forget that." She nodded off to stare down for awhile.

I looked at her from the corner of my eye when she said that. The way she said it—like she was being timed or something. I even slightly recalled other events that connected to this as well. That time when I first taught her skateboarding: "I'm sorry. It's just, I don't have all the time in the world to learn skateboarding." My head filled with thoughts on why she'd probabl;y have to set a time limit. I opened my mouth to ask, but before I could, she asked me, "Is it okay if I write your name on my pants?"

_Her pants_—"What? Oh, uh—" I looked to her, escaping from my daydreams, and saw a permanent marker had somehow materialized out of thin air and she was now scribbling "NAMINÉ" on her pants, along with faded sketches of figures holding hands and stars. She looked up from her designing drawings, and asked me again, "May I? It's so I can remember you." _Another reference_. "I'm just asking, just in case you sue me for stealing your name or something."

I straightened up, laughing, and said, "I know it's that awesome of a name. Go ahead, write it, just to remember me by," I pretended to scoff. She giggled and nodded, "Thank you, my highly-ness."

I looked on while she scratched my name down. The surprising thing was that she didn't just write it—she brought it to life, drawing little images of stars and plaiding out several of the letters, enough to make it stand out. The stars looked vaguely familiar, like a star-shaped fruit we Twilighters called paopu. I didn't know how she knew about them, since she had just moved here and it was a Twilight symbol, but I suspected everyone knew of its origins as a tying bond kind of thing.

"Wow, Naminé—you're really good," I managed to tell her. Naminé spoke up. "Back when I was far away, I heard the tale of these fruit. We were told as children that somewhere out there, there was this tree with star-shaped fruit, and that the fruit represents an unbreakable bond. So, as long as I kept on drawing these fruit images whenever I met a new friend, I believed I would always be linked to that person." She looked to me, her eyes with wonder. "Did you know that story?"

"Yeah, my mom told me when I was younger." I laughed when I said, "It's kind of a regulation to have your children know about it here."

She looked to me, finished in scribbling and sketching the paopu fruit. "When I discovered your island and the surrounding islands all had the fruit, I _absolutely _saw it as a sign. A sign that we'll be together." She took her hand and nestled it on top of mine. "So, now, we have an unbreakable connection established. Deal?"

She quickly dotted her stars, then turned to smile at me. I grinned back, sealing our momentary agreement that I knew wasn't temporary, but infinite. "Deal."

Naminé had told me earlier that she usually spends her lunch periods in an art class, one that would enhance whatever skills she didn't think she had. So I was stuck parading around Sora and Kairi, since everyone had other plans. Which reminded me—

"What's your elective class, Kairi?" I asked, a little suspicious, since I've never asked and I wanted to scope out the competition we were having this week.

Kairi turned to me, most likely shocked that I was talking to her after just being a third wheel for weeks. "Transferring to Law and Justice this semester... why...?"

"Good," I said. "We're not in any rival competition." Sora, I knew, was placed in Medical Sciences for some reason, even if he expressed no desire in advancing in medicine. Their hall was combining with the second strongest elective, Law and Order. But now, since Kairi was still in only Drama, they wouldn't be working together, so they wouldn't be able to gang up on Naminé's and my teams' ideas.

Kairi blinked twice, saying, "Oh. That's good I guess," a smile playing at her lips. She turned back to Sora and continued chatting softly with him, while I returned my attention to—of course—Naminé.

It was nearly a month since the girl in the red sweater appeared in my life; I was beginning to get the blues, almost like separation anxiety, but it wasn't that bad. At this point, Sora and Kairi would look on, occasionally commenting to themselves, "_I think something's up with him_" or "_Maybe it's her_" and I'd have to pull it off with a groggy smile. We were being farther driven apart, only because—

The voice of Kairi pulls me out of a trance. "So Roxas, when were you planning to introduce us to your new friend?"

I sit up and look at the pair in front of me. They are sitting, receptive, waiting for my answer, hopefully along the lines of "she's my girlfriend".

I told them the hard truth. "She doesn't want to meet you." I leaned back and watched as they were questioning why.

"Why not? We're not...weird or something, are we?" Sora muttered, crossing his arms.

"That's what I said, and she told me she can't meet any of you guys," I said absolutely.

"Why not? I want to meet this girl," Kairi nodded, looking to Sora, who agreed.

"She said no, so it's a no. I won't even introduce you to her," I muttered to them.

Kairi leaned back a little as well, crossing her arms. "Well, at least, what's her name?"

"Her name's Naminé," I replied, mimicking her actions and crossing my arms.

"Well, what does she do?" Sora questioned, suspiciously leaning forward.

I answered, bored with this rambling conversation: "She draws, paints, sketches, skateboards—"

"What does she look like?" Kairi and Sora interrupted, saying it simultaneously.

"Well—she has wavy, blonde hair. Crystalline blue eyes, like mine. Gracious figure. Wears a lot of black and white. Pretty—"

"AHHA!" Sora yelled, standing up from the bench. Some began to turn their heads. "You like her!" he exclaimed.

"Geezus, Sora, I was just describing her," I mumbled, feeling a little off that my best friend would guess something like that.

"Yeah, but no person who just meets a girl describes it the way you do! 'Crystalline eyes'? What are you, a love-drunk poet?" Sora yelled, with Kairi egging him on with feeble a "Yeah!"

I was completely fed up with this middle school behavior from everyone, not just Sora and his remarks.

"Dude," I replied. "How about you explain your description of Kairi that you've told me a million times, and then criticize me about being a love-drunk poet," I said, standing from my seat. I regretted saying those words so suddenly, not even a hint of it being a joke. Sora was just really ticking me off, and I knew that when I stalked off to my next class, he turned into a bright shade of red, muttering things under his breath, or at least trying to. He wasn't really trying to hide his feelings for Kairi, but it was something no one should speak about, only him. Kairi looked on, a little flustered, but otherwise, things were probably a blur to me and her.

I marched down to the elective hall and found Naminé, already leaving, and my mood immediately lightened. "Come on, Naminé," I muttered, waving her to my side. Her mood dampened, and she asked quietly, "Is something wrong?"

"Everything is alright," I said.

She disagreed. "I don't get the vibe you're okay—"

"Naminé...I. Am. Fine. Let's go, we have to season up our ideas to meet everyone else's likings."

Like my little follower, she happily complied, even when I knew she was dying to know.

"Welcome to our first annual Twilight Horrors Meeting for Visual Arts and General Engineering classes," Mr. Fair said with a booming voice. The Engineering classes crammed ourselves next to easels and at tables in the Art Room, sitting next to our partner. It was time to discuss our ideas. At the highlight was Naminé and my idea, and we were quickly enunciated and dubbed the class representatives. Meaning, if we sucked at winning this, it would be our faults.

"I would like to introduce the reps, new-student Naminé and old-timer Roxas—" he politely referred to us. "Their guidance is much appreciated."

We stood to be acknowledged by passing stares, muffled applause, and Ven and his partner, the blue-haired girl, whistling loudly.

"They have devised such an ingenious layout and design, that were are choosing them to endorse their strategy." Mr. Fair called us to the front. "Show us your magnificent ideas."

"Thank you, Mr. Fair," I said, facing back to the crowd. Naminé and I began to describe our plan so animatedly, we saw the other students gawking at our ingenious ideas. We assigned roles, which were happily eaten up by the audience. As we closed our short presentation, applause drowned out our closing words. I guess, the class really did like our ideas. I heard several, "_I should've thought of that!_" and _"They're so smart; even I'm scared!", _which really made me happy.

"Yeah!" I heard Ven yell. "We're gonna win this time, guys!" Several yells and hollers were heard, and Mr. Fair even did a fist-pump. Mr. Marluxia had the sneaky smirk he had earlier, and I was beginning to think it was permanent. He walked up to the front and addresses us all:

"Very well done, Naminé...Roxas," he acknowledged. "I'm sure your brilliant ideas will be utilized in the future. Now, do we have all the supplies needed?" he asked to us. There was a complete silence that differentiated the loud noises from the applause earlier. "Well, it seems we're going on a class shopping trip," Mr. Marluxia announced.

"I cannot believe your school allows you to go shopping during school hours," Naminé said, awfully surprised.

We were walking around a much too colorful arts and crafts store, while another half of the group was wandering the department stores for any costumes needed, since ours required matching outfits, but hardly any disguises. Naminé and I were cruising solo, still obeying the one-partner rule, and we were talking about tomorrow's activities.

"It doesn't happen much," I replied to her amazement. "Only when we're doing an elective creativity course," I explained. Naminé shook her head.

"I am glad they're using our idea for this House of Horrors," she said, dearly excited. "I've never been chosen for one of these."

"Me neither. It's always been my twin friend Ventus making the ideas," I told her.

She turned to me while turning to a paint aisle. "You can have a twin friend?" she asked reluctantly. She picked up a sample jar of black paint.

I peeked at their shades of white collection. "Yeah. You know it's possible that there are at least two others who look like you." I picked up a bottle of pure white, titled Angelus White, and told her, "My friend Kairi looks a bit like you."

"Kairi...?" she looked at me, titling her head in question.

I put back the bottle and eyed another white, titled Gloomy White. "She's one of my best friends; she's really nice—and like I said, you should meet them!"

Naminé stopped looking at paints. Her eyes were frozen onto one bottle, while I waved a hand in front of her to see if she had blacked out or something. Suddenly, in a hurry, she walked out of the aisle, having me try to keep up with her. I probably had hurt her sensitive feelings, so I began, "Naminé—hey, I'm sorry. It's okay if you don't meet them. It's not necessary, really..."

We had steered ourselves into an aisle dedicated to all forms of pencils, which lined the two sides, trapping us within it's thin walls. Naminé turned to me and said, "Do you know why I can't see them?" Her eyes looked fearful, fearing for what she was about to confide in me.

"What's the reason, Naminé?" I asked in complete seriousness. I grasped her hand, which was slightly trembling, the way her whole body was when we were hiding. That was when I saw a flash of red to my right. Turning to the side, I saw a large man, no doubt, but what gave me the feeling of being threatened was that he covered both of his eyes with red bandages, leaving one eye exposed creepily. Now, I'm pretty far-sighted, so I saw that his eyes had to be a sickly orange shade that sent shivers through me. I turned back to Naminé as I watched the man approach us. This was most likely the reason why Namine had froze; she knew this man somehow.

"Let's go," I asserted strongly. Naminé swiftly nodded while our feet began sprinting down a hall of pointed-tip pencils. I didn't look back, but I already knew that this orange-eyed man was still watching us, and that maybe, our paths would cross again, if I wanted to or not.

Panting. Tears in our eyes. Hands interlocked. That's what was going on when we reached the parking lot. We didn't bother waiting for the rest of our class, but we had to wait on the sidewalk for the rest of them, since they were going to have a cow if they lost two students again.

"Naminé—" I said through hard breaths. "Who—Who was that—?" I panted, hearing my voice crack from having a fright. Naminé had her hands on her knees, catching her breath. "That...was—"

"Kiddies, pill into my car, it's time to go back to school before final bell!" I heard a less-than-manly voice echo outside from behind me. Mr. Marluxia, our guardian supervisor, was waving a group of ten kids, including supposedly us as well, into his rather large and expensive Hummer. We were crammed into the plushy leather before Naminé had the chance to explain anything to me. I'd reach longingly for her while the car bumped and reached the campus, when all I'd really want was to know what was troubling her.

I'd tried to catch her when we exited Mr. Marly's car and walked back on campus, but she only quickly raced by with the rest of the class to make it for dismissal. Before she was out of sight, she yelled to me from across the parking lot: "Skateboarding's canceled! I'll see you tomorrow."

My last hope, squished and strangled. I sighed loudly as I heard Mr. Marly cough down a laugh behind me. _"Rejected," _I heard him mutter. I just walked off after that, feeling a little more weary than before this dumb day started.

During this relatively unfair day, I had managed to sever a lifelong tie between Sora and I, while also not being able to communicate completely with Naminé. I felt tired and exasperated. There was no one I could talk to about my selfish issues. I sighed as I walked the rest of the way home. I would just have to go along with the struggles and take them where they would lead me.

I entered my house, seeing that Tifa wasn't home yet. I didn't expect her to want me to stay up for her, so I dropped my bag on the floor next to my bed. I removed my shirt, wet my hair, took a drifty shower, and let myself go to bed early. My homework undone, my dinner not eaten, and my thoughts so scattered, I had no idea what I was to do tomorrow.

My predicament was true; the day dragged on and on. We were given the entire day to work on our House of Horrors, but this was a major fail in my part of me apologizing to Sora, since we were not allowed to mix and mingle with other elective groups we were not partnered with.

Naminé avoided me very well that day, making sure to not have our paths cross. We were supposed to order our entire hall on how this works, and how we had to devise all the ropes and such. This was supposed to be fool proof, and I wouldn't let any slip up get in our way.

Halfway through the day, I had to stop several troublemakers from ruining our project. I still hadn't gotten a chance to speak to Naminé, or anyone else for that matter. When I wasn't ordering people around, I sat taping more black paper onto the windows that opened to the middle courtyard, also where the Meds were making their House of Horrors. I snuck a glimpse at them, and to my surprise, they had already blacked out their windows, and most of them were lying outside doing nothing. I didn't worry too much about them; they didn't look like much competition. We definitely had this competition in the bag with our idea.

The day ended very quickly, with me worn out from barking orders at everyone, and me missing Naminé since she took the bus home instead of walking. I was so exhausted from today, and it was most likely going to repeat itself tomorrow. I wondered why Sora and Kairi hadn't spoken to me earlier, since we had yesterday's quarrel on such a shorthand notice.

I hung my head low, my blonded brownish bangs sweeping over my eyes, but not at one moment washing over my vision. I didn't need an escape, I only had to live tomorrow and everything'll go back to normal on Halloween, right? Well, that's what I've been persuading myself.

When I stepped into my house, Tifa was once again not present. I hadn't seen her in two days. I figured she was working overtime for extra money, but I wasn't too worried about it. I made myself a sandwich and sat myself onto the couch. The remote lay inches from me on the couch, and I reached over a pressed the red "on" button. The first channel I saw was a news program, with a serious looking guy and a cheesy sunset background.

"Good afternoon, Twilight residents! I will be your host tonight, my name is Saïx, and I'd be more than happy to make your acquaintance this afternoon," the man on tv announced while patting down his shockingly blue hair down. _Shut up, I just want to hear the news._

"Our top story today is the stunning fourth break-in in one month! _Fourth!_ Can you believe that, Axel?" The blue-haired reporter turned to his previously un-announced partner, supposedly named Axel, and the camera followed. Axel, this man with a completely red-dyed hairdo, laughed deeply.

"Oh, Saïx, I can't believe it either! This dude's some kind of...pedophile, if you ask me! He broke into houses alledgedly with ALL young girls, accroding to the Twilight Police. Freak, right?"

_They really do let anyone do the news these days, don't they?_ I turned off the tv when Axel and Saix started grabbing each other's hair and went back to staring at the ceiling. Taking little nibbles out from my sandwich, I eventually nibbled to the nub and coincidentally fell asleep.

I usually don't remember my dreams in the morning, but this time, when I actually did wake up on the couch earlier than I'd thought, I recalled faded bits and recollections about my reverie. Naminé was in it, not surprisingly, but she was little girl, and she was drawing. Using a crayon, I remembered, she drew a seemingly harmless picture of a castle. I'd seen this castle before somewhere, I knew that. She showed me the picture, and pretty soon, I was sucked into it, as if it was three dimensional. I saw myself walking to it, and then I blacked out, and woke up on my couch, a blanket shrouding me. It was odd having this many remembrances from what seemed like a short half-remembered dream. I _hate _not knowing the first part of my dreams.

I peeled the blanket off me, which I assumed Tifa lay on me when she saw me asleep. Surely, when I opened the door to her room, I saw her sleeping—in the arms of a brown-haired man. I gagged, coughed, choked and nearly died, but I gathered myself and closed the door on my English teacher and my mom in the same bed. I dressed quickly for school so I wouldn't have to run into a certain someone getting ready for his morning at my house. I set off on the path to school with high hopes. Today I pledged to make some progress in apologizing to Sora and Kairi, as well as speaking with Naminé. I realized I was nearly fifty minutes early for school, and I had more than enough time to kill. My thoughts taking over, I finally realized that _it was only a train-ride away..._

I changes routes and strided down to the train station bound for Twilight Town. The rural section was home to Olette, Payne, and Hayner, all of whom I hadn't seen in a month. I also took note that today was Olette's birthday, and I used it as my excuse for my small escape. Rush hour hadn't begun yet this early in the morning, so I pulled my train card out from my backpack and swiped it into the slot. I pushed my way to make it to the last train I could make for the day. The train wasn't crowded at all, filled with only drowsy teenagers, early workers, or the occasional elderly passenger. The doors were about to close, when I noticed a long haired fellow in a long black coat board. The train began moving, and force pushed me to the right. I looked at the man that boarded. My friend. My cousin. _What was he doing here_? He also had a backpack slung on his shoulder. Is he actually going to school today?

He was facing the other direction, so he probably hadn't noticed me yet. I decided I should just follow him, since I wouldn't get any answers from him anyways. I heard the audible beep that signaled we were approaching the station, as did everyone else. The train halted to a stop, forcing me to the left. I hastily gathered my belongings and began to trail Riku.

Following him wasn't that hard. The guy was practically deaf to my shuffling noises, and he barely heard me through the quiet noises throughout Twilight Town. We were in the large Tram Commons when he entered a large crack on the west side of the wall encasing the town. I didn't dare follow him after that, all because the path lead to the deep depths of the Forest. Creaking noises, hardly no light, and invisible creatures were what really kept me, and everyone else in town, out of there. But there is a legend that there is a large abandoned mansion in the clearing, where it used to be home to a rich woman. The legend never persuaded me to jump into the forest's depths, and following Riku didn't help either; I turned back to try and catch up at Olette's house.

I spied my watch, and saw that it was now—seven thirty? Meaning...half an hour before school started? Great, I can't be late for homeroom! Who knows, Leonhart will probably pull a joke and I'd have to badmouth him about sleeping with my mom—I really didn't want that.

I found that the last train had already left the station for the Cliffs, so I had to take the tunnel. It was a much longer route, one that was a tad safe while being completely dangerous at the same time. The station 4 entrance that lead to the station 1, or the Cliffs, entrance was graced with small graffiti marks _(made by yours truly), _saying: "If you can read this, you are a NINJA." I smirked as I passed by it, recalling that it was to tease Sora, who couldn't read without his glasses. Friendship really does matter to me, and I just threw it away in anger for another person? Who am I, really?

Sora—he's my brother. Not by blood, but by bond. We were tied for infinity, always associated with one another. Our alike looks, our indefinite good nature towards each other—hell, our parents were best friends. How could I ignore and yell at someone like that? Today, when I expected to apologize, it was mostly going to go, "Dude, I'm sorry for saying that stuff; I didn't mean it." Yet, after this contemplation, I couldn't help but think I'd have to make it up to him, and Kairi of course. A tug in my gut plainly suggested that...I'd have to introduce Naminé to them. Despite her begging, I'd have to drag her to them; it had to be done.

Before I realized it, I was already on campus, already by my locker. It seemed to fast, seeming as if I was just at Station 3. I shrugged it off as I opened my locker to switch my books in and out of my locker. Five minutes until homeroom, and I was prepared—steady for Naminé and the news I'd have to give her.

* * *

**Author's Note**: There; long just for you! I think I was rambling a little...tell me if I did. I'd like to acknowledge all who have supported this story on **story alert **and such, you guys are very **supportive**, and you're literally the reason I'm still **going on **with this. Even though this doesn't have a ton of reviews, I'm **proud **of it and the way it is is because of you. I also have an announcement regarding my future works. If you must know, I'm writing first person stories for **all the main characters in Kingdom Hearts **using **canon **pairings. It goes:

**Sora's **POV : sora/kairi **Roxas' **POV : roxas/naminé **Kairi's **POV : kairi/sora **Naminé's **POV : naminé/roxas I may switch it up, do a little reverse psychology, since I feel like it :)

And then I am doing 3 third person fics, all with a certain person's point of view told in third person. I am also repeating this cycle using oneshots. I may also do Ventus and Aqua stories,  
but they will have no pairings. So, which one would you like me to post as soon as I'm closing "Scattered Memory":

**Sora's **— 'Empty Melodies'  
**Kairi's **— 'On Crystal Sand'  
**Naminé's **— 'Treasured Memories'  
Third POV #**1 **— 'Wherever You Are'  
Third POV #**2 **— 'Left Unsaid'  
Third POV #**3 **— 'Is Any of This Real?'  
Third POV #**4 **— '100/4 Days'  
Third POV #**5 — '**The Night Lives'

For the risk of having my ideas taken, you may leave a review asking a brief summary of the choices above and how far I'm into them. I'm really excited to hear from you and post  
these stories. :3 Also, if I start posting midway done with "Scattered Memory", will you guys get confused? I hope not, because I have a whole artillery laid out, and this is just my  
first cycle! This will take forever, but hey, I'm glad to be doing this.\- CupcakeL e r m a n / Alyssa Valentine's Day 2011;.


	7. Decisive Twilight: Part II

**「Scattered Memory」  
****by **CupcakeLerman  
_i apologize for my tardiness._

**Chapter 7: Decisive Twilight: Part II**

****"Nice of you to join us, Mr. Strife," Mr. Leonhart announced, making everyone turn to me, thinking it was the President of the school. Sadly, it was just me, so they all turned back to talking before class started. I angrily threw down my Literature report on his desk, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of making me crack. Oh, how much I just wanted to steal all his clothes this morning so he'd have to walk through the town wearing absolutely nothing—and being locked out of his house. _Oh, if only_...

I took my seat gruffly, not intending for it to happen like this. Naminé was nowhere in sight. The morning bell rung, and several other students came in to make it into homeroom. Among them was a flushed Naminé, which looked unsettling. She took a seat in the middle of the room and settled her things down. Her perfect complexion was hardly ever spoiled, but today, it was if she had ran all the way to school. Was that likely the case? I guess the courteous thing to do would've been to pick her up—but I have no clue as to where she lives...

Home room breezed by, and thankfully, we had a regular schedule today, besides this afternoon when we were to finish our House of Horrors. My group was still not finished; we had to install a mirror and hard wire it a bit before we were done. I guess Naminé did a fairly good job leading the other half to draw the paintings. I still had high hopes by the time lunch rolled by. Naminé wasn't avoiding me at all costs, she the wasn't speaking to me excitedly anymore.

I walked into the lunch room sullenly. I told myself, _Alright, I'm going to apologize today_. I didn't have butterflies in my stomach, ants in pants—nothing. It felt so simple to apologize that I would probably find it as second interest. It didn't matter about Naminé; right now I was focused on my two best friends in the entire school. It was funny how yesterday I found it in my interests to speak with Naminé. Bipolar, aren't I?

My eyes traced around the room, until I saw that our usual lunch table at the back corner by the windows was unoccupied, save for one person. _Completely unlikely, yet solely ironic._

"Riku," I said, walking up to the table. "Where's Sora and Kairi?" I pointed towards the two empty seats in front of him. His head slowly moved to where I pointed, and he nodded, saying in a deep and dark voice: "Not here." His hood covered his face, but I had the slightest feeling that he was hiding his face on purpose.

"Well, I can tell that much," I told him, taking the seat in front of him. Sure, I disliked the guy, but he's my cousin, so I guess I'll let it slide today. "Say, cousin, why were you going to Twilight Town—"

Screech.

Riku pushed his chair back to get up, knocking it into a similarly depressed-looking boy, except with darkly blue hair. His hair completely covered one eye, yet he seemed to be reading a book just before he was rudely interrupted. He looked up from his book titled _Lexicon_, and I could feel his eyes sucking out all the happiness I had been endowed earlier. Now I felt like crawling into the corner. No wonder this guy only reads books.

"None of your business," Riku finally answered, his back to me. Before he left to deal with a flaring blue-streaked guy, he spat at me, "Why don't you ask your friend, who happens to be the girl involved." Riku and the guy behind him then proceeded in throwing exact punches while the crowd began to egg them on, chanting, "Zexion! Riku! Zexion! Riku!" I decided to leap over them and ignore passing stares, as if I was just passing.

I sauntered out of the encroaching food fight that was about to take place in the lunch room. Walking in the empty hallways overlooking the courtyard, I looked on the walls, which were decorated with prodigy work; Naminé's included. I smiled when my tracing finger overlapped her abstract painting adorned on the wall. A hooded figure in black in front of a crystal fissure. The figure appeared to look like he was running, and it seemed that...that he was—_tall...slender...and...blonde_—me.

I paused in front of it while my head began to ache. I let it pass, since I was still admiring this hidden portrayal as me...Naminé. She had done this. I wasn't the least bit embarrassed, but more of...happy?

She did a nice job making an attempt to capture my exterior, and I had no idea that it was me when she'd previewed it to me before.

_"Check it out, Roxas!" Naminé held up a papyrus paper with intricate little streaks. I eyed the figure in the drawing a little suspicious, almost like a deja vu. "Uhm, Naminé, that figure looks...familiar?"_

_She nodded, her blonde hair bobbing up and down. "I based it off one of my old friends, from my old town. He was a real special person."_

That made no sense. Naminé never knew me before; no, she never has. I mean, there are what, several million blondes in the world? I'm just one of them, and so is Naminé. Coincidentally.

"Roxas...?" I heard a light voice from behind me. "Nam—!" I spun around, my mouth talking before I thought, and saw a sharply red-haired girl in a skirt; Kairi.

"Yeah, I'm not...any—" Kairi confusedly said.

"Ignore that. Uh—What did you mean to tell me...Kairi?" I extended an arm on the wall next to me, flipped my hair in a non-flirtatious way—In truth, I was extremely uncomfortable.

She twiddled her thumbs anxiously and hummed. "I just wanted to tell you...to do your best for tomorrow." She smiled, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and placed her hands behind her back. "And also, Sora and I are—"

At that moment, a dangerous-looking mob of students flooded into the hallway—the casual interruption.

"Kairi, I'll talk to you later. Good luck—!" I heard a faint calling of my name, but that was it. The deluge of people paused my speech, and coincidentally, they had all swept me into the elective hall. I ended up on the floor, and a hand reached out towards me. I took it, to find black pants and a white shirt looking me in the face— Ven.

"Twin. Nice entrance," he said, lifting me up. I patted myself down before saying, "Thanks, Ven. I really...intended for that to happen." Ventus, the splitting image of me, smiled, and I thought I was staring at a mirror again. "How's the 'construction' going?" I said, referring to our project. I casually brushed dust off my wind-swept clothes.

"Oh, that," Ven said, ruffling his hair anxiously. "We were waiting for you so we could start, so I guess, now that you're here, we can get to work."

"That we can do, Ven."

"Right." Ven turned and started sprinting down the hallway. "C'mon, last day fellas! Put some ass into it; that's what she said!" After that, I heard loud shuffling noises, and heard the cacophony of crinkling paper and hard drilling.

****"Naminé!" I yelled, just to approach the said blond before she could leave. She paused her motion, silently turning to face me, her hands still daintily holding a full-length mirror. I was afraid she'd drop it, so I quietly took the mirror from her and laid it down on the floor. "Naminé, explain to me everything, please."

Naminé had a look written all over her face, saying she wanted to escape, but regardless, I took her hand and lead her to sit down. "Please."

Her eyes began to wander off in an appropriate attempt to hold back tears, like I would do too. She willingly complied, and allowed me to speak before she nodded her head. "You mean the world to me right now, Naminé."

She nodded her head again, as if to agree. A tear drop fell to the floor, echoing a silent noise that I knew was only in my head. I waited, and waited, and waited for her to be ready for this conversation we were about to have. She parted her hair in a different way, clearing her long blondish locks away from her vision. When I knew she was about to begin, she began sullenly: "Roxas...I can't tell you what's going on."

"What? Why not? We're friends, right?"

She nodded quickly, diminishing my fears. "Of course, of course, it's just—it isn't the time."

I was beginning to genuinely worry. "When will it be the time? Naminé, I can't help but think that something...something bad could happen to you."

Naminé's tears had cleared, but her face was still weary and sorrowful when she said: "Something bad is going to happen."

My eyes looked into hers. As I stared into those blue rain clouds, I heard her say, "I don't know what's imminent, but I do know that some thing's going to happen. And in the very end, I'll be just a mem—"

"Naminé, please," I said, begging her, "Don't say any of that. It's not true, I know that."

She hastily shook her head. "Well, I—"

I felt like half of this was my fault. "Don't. You don't have to. I—shouldn't have pressured you. I'm...I'm sorry," I apologized, patting the back of my head nonchalantly. "Nothing will happen to you, I promise." I let go of her hand, almost like releasing her from my captivity. I helped her off her abrupt seat. I didn't know if I was supposed to apologize with a hug, but Naminé looked to me, blinked twice, and lifted up the mirror again. She stood and looked at herself with the reflection she was holding. Her eyes stared at every inch of her figure and even the reflection of a winding corridor behind her.

"Who...Who am I to you, Roxas..." Naminé began, all the while taking glances at me and then to her mirrored double.

"Well, of course, you're a friend. Nothing more," I replied slowly, making sure these were the right words I wanted to say. If I had said something wrong, I would be tripping over all my words like a bumbling idiot.

She took this well. "Good. Because you're my friend too...Roxas." I looked at her, peering at herself in the mirror. She didn't look in the mirror like other girls did. It wasn't a mien of approval or dissent, but it was a pure, honest _"Who am I?" _expression, one that was clearly drawn all over the mirror and it's onlooker. I wanted to step closer to her and whisper behind her, _"You're not alone," _but my feet were firmly planted to the foundation of the hall we were still in.

Naminé must have realized we had daylight burning, because she finally walked off with the full length mirror tucked under her arm. Anyone, including me as well, wouldn't have been able to balance it. But she sauntered down this runway like a model, over to where the mirror was to be drilled in. I watched until the very last second, wondering if the girl I had met a month ago was really going to open up my life to something bigger.

I haven't thoroughly gone over my idea yet. All I knew is that we were taking a classic fear from even way back, and for all I knew, Sir Xemnas or President Strife would never allow us to do something so...so..._taboo_. But by the end of the day, our set was complete, the stage prepared, and our thrills were ready to appear. Ventus and his proposed blue-haired partner Aqua suggested that Naminé and I celebrate an already imminent victory by going to the ice-cream shop after school. They both tried to lure me with promises of my favorite sea-salt ice cream and the unveiling of a new ice cream. I told them I couldn't, since I had weekend chores, but I promised to meet them up tomorrow for the opening of the Horrors ceremony. That's right, tomorrow was all Hallows eve, a night Sora and I adored as kids. I remembered we would trick or treat around the neighborhood day by day, and this was how we met Kairi and Olette.

Tomorrow was also Saturday, which meant going to school on a weekend. Of course, Tifa would have to force me to this kind of event where I was actually a part of it. At this point, I wasn't exactly thrilled, because every year, she happened to bring one person. The same one, each year.

When I arrived home, I did set off to complete my weekend chores. Dishes were cleaned. Rooms were swept. Noodles were cooked. I plopped onto our worn out living room couch, still wearing my yellow "_Yes. You may kiss the cook_." apron. My hands fiddled with the strands of blond hair that arched out in front of me with such little effort. I was lying exhausted on the couch when a startled Tifa walked into the house, jingling several sets of keys. If I remembered correctly, there was an extra set of keys dangling...?

"Oh, Roxas...you're home?" I opened one eye and told her, "Of course I am." I sat up to help her with her things. "Why wouldn't I—" I stopped midway to the door.

Now, I've seen frightful things at times. My Literature teacher _licking _on my mom's lipstick-stained lips; a girl suddenly appearing at my secret illegal hideaway; Sora nearly falling off the station tower once or twice. But nothing genuinely compared to seeing Tifa holding hands with a tall, blonde man—not Leonhart, which I was somewhat relieved, but none other than my worst enemy.

"You...you..." I stuttered angrily.

"Oh, Roxas, right?" President Cloud Strife chortled, swallowing a laugh. "I've seen you around school. This is your house, huh?"

It took all my willpower to not leap up and punch him repeatedly. Tifa holding hands with him also made me lighten up a bit as well. She saw my stunned expression, and peppered in, "Cloud here is a very nice man, Roxas. Understand that."

"Understand what, mom? This man...he's ruining my life!" I yelled—not loudly and audaciously, but lowering my tone as to not startle her.

Tifa released Cloud's hand, and I glared daggers at him. He was standing out on the porch when I quickly and forcefully slammed the door in his very face. My father's very face.

"Roxas Lockhart! What in the hell are you doing!" Tifa yelled, raising her voice several octaves. I heard a muffled voice from outside saying, "See you tomorrow, Tifa, at the school!" before I went and kicked the sturdy wooden door.

"Mom, if I hadn't said it before—" I tried explaining tirelessly.

"Well, I thought you'd handle it much better if you knew he was your _father_!" Tifa angrily yelled, but her tone wasn't scary or threatening, but doubtful and remorseful. I calmed my nerves a little. I had to remember who I was dealing with...the foster mother that picked me out of all the other senselessly abandoned children.

"I know, I know. I can't deal with him, really! He's not my father. A real father would actually take time to say hi to me every day, especially if we live right adjacent to him..." I said, waving a hand towards his grand house across the street.

"Roxas. I know. You're dealing with it. But you're going to have to deal harder with it. I'm dating him."

My hands went waving through the air. "You're what? Mom, no—HELL NO. You can't date him! I'd rather— you be in bed with my Literature teacher than my school president! That breaks all the standards!"

"But, Roxas, you have to understand—there's always been something between your father and I!" Tifa tried explaining while she furiously ruffled her black delivery uniform, like she always did when she was angry.

"Something? What connection could possibly be between him and you?" I said, my head aching from all the yelling and my hands balled into fists, as to not let anger dominate me.

"Roxas. Do not talk to me like that. Go to your room. We'll discuss this later," Tifa said in a calm and mediating way. I complied with her, and began strolling down the hall. But before I even twisted the knob on the door handle, I said in a mocking and cavalier voice: "He's the reason that you're stuck here. _With me_." _Slam._That was the last sound my mother heard from me that night. I leapt onto my single bed, sighing into my pillow, wiping away the images of _Cloud _kissing my _mother_.

Halloween isn't the most happy day of the year. Multiplied by the fact that I was completely restless and how I had run out of hair gel this morning completely made me off track. I groggily pushed myself to school without Tifa, and I made sure to be decked out in my black attire.

When I made it to the school at four in the evening, I trudged my way towards the Calypso hall where the elective hall was located. According to official school rules, we were not allowed to sneak onto the sets of the other teams, unless "cordially invited," so all the faces I saw that night where the ones I had seen all week. We were all in our hall of blackened tape and mirrors hanging on the walls. Soon, I was going to be part of the exclusive group of team leaders touring the other halls as part of the "horrifying experience" of Halloween. I gave orders to Ven, Aqua, and several other Art and Engineering kids on how we were to do this:

We were doing Bloody Mary. Not the alcohol, but the better version—the dare. The only thing was we didn't even have to have people jump out of anything—every little horror was just everyone's minds playing on them! Naminé and I are figuratively going to walk out of this with first place trophies in hand already.

After I barked last minute orders to everyone, I faced my attention to Naminé. She wore a black hoodie and white shredded pants. I waved her over from where she was standing in front of a mirror. Her blue eyes sparkled tonight, making my heart leap a little. As she drew nearer, my eyes laid on the sparkly pearl bracelet she wore on her left arm.

"I like the cardigan. Very Halloweeny," she told me, giggling at my makeshift outfit.

"Thanks. I mean..." I pulled out my phone, typing on the same screen from a few weeks ago, and typed and showed her the screen.

"Ha ha. 'LOL'," she recited. I was ecstatic when I saw the smile creep onto her lips.

I tucked the phone into my back pocket. "Naminé, we're going to be touring now," I told her, taking her hand subconsciously.

"Okay, Roxas." She took my hand, her bracelet coolly rubbing my wrist, and we walked into the middle courtyard. Our first stop: Medical kids. I quickly spotted Sora, clad in a darkly gray Halloween outfit, complete with fangs and tiny bat wings attached on his back. He was casually chatting with another kid, while the other hall leaders grouped together. I saw Zexion, the kid Riku got into the scuffle that lead to Riku's suspension for supposedly starting a food fight again. Surprisingly, I saw the dark-haired figure of Xion in the leaders' group. I was surprised she even bothered to show up. Kairi, wearing an almost identical outfit as Sora's, smiled cheekily next to Sora.

Sora, who was apparently a team leader, took it upon himself to start telling us what was happening.

"Welcome to the Twentieth Annual Twilight Terraces High School Halloween House of Horrors Showcase. I will be your ringleader for a meager hour, as I guide you through the caverns of our classroom—I mean, House of Horrors. But I steadily warn you, this is a _dangerous _activity we are about to partake in, so, don't even bother to file a lawsuit with us; I already warned you."

I still hadn't let go of Naminé's cold hand, but I didn't let that bother me. While I eyed Sora's carefully applied guyliner, he winked at me holding hands with the adjacent blond headed girl. I saw that fang smile of his, and a slight thumbs up rose to me. The group dispersed as the door to the Meds room opened and we were lead into the dark building. Great, no lighting, in case someone screamed. I didn't see anything but the shadowy figure of the person in front of me. From memory, I knew that the Meds hall only had two classrooms, and I had no idea how we were going to be in here for an hour. When my eyes carefully adjusted already, I found my hand was detached from Naminé's. I did not recall letting go of her, and I didn't want anything "bad" happen to her. I shoved pairs of people away, until I bumped into a pair of bat wings clumsily. Sora.

"Gosh, Roxas—watch where you're going! Oh...right," Sora said to me. I felt a prick on my right index finger, and I felt a trickle of blood escaped my less than nimble finger. I didn't mind it.

"You can see me?" I said, waving a hand I couldn't even see in front of me in this pitch dark room.

"Night vision goggles, duh," Sora said. I guessed he was pointing a finger at the awkward looking glasses I was beginning to see in the darkness.

I remembered—this was finally my chance! "Sora, I—"

He disturbed me. "Rox, you're by best friend. I already know what you're gonna say. I'm sorry, bro."

"Really? I—I was actually going to apologize, y'know..."

"Don't have to, Roxas. I shouldn't have said that stuff. Besides, what you said about her—it's true, she is cute." I heard him adjusting the crinkling bat wing I'd managed to bump into.

"Oh, yeah, you saw..." I said, almost feeling a bit embarrassed. Sora, the master of relieving tension, patted my shoulder. "Roxas, cool it. No hard feelings. Now, I gotta go get started on this. Good luck with that girl!" I heard several people complain as Sora pushed his way into the awaiting crowd. I felt a million times better after making amends to him, but my peace was quickly short-lived.

Before I even had a chance to ask around for a blond-headed girl in a black hoodie, a single candle was lit in the center of the room. Sora's tell-tale blue eyes were lit, but his tone of voice sounded monotonous and bleak.

"Tonight...we are going to play a little game. Before our program began, I stole a drop of blood from one of our attendees—"

_Crap, does he mean me?_

"Hey, that's illegal!" I heard a deep and distinguishable voice call out, causing some to agree.

"Shut up, Terra, and let me finish!" I heard Sora yell to the disrupting speaker. I rubbed my pricked finger, feeling a little like Sleeping Beauty and her pricked finger. My finger traced over a little indentation on my index finger. This kid is going to get it later.

Sora's face immediately darkened. "Now...with this drop of blood, here is a piece of paper. We are going to perform our sacred ritual tonight."

Complete silence. I could hear our heart rates soaring silently as Sora crept to the wooden door entrance, dragging the candle along with him. Next, we heard a nail being driven into the wood, and a crinkle of the paper. Sora opened the door, letting in the night air breeze, and muttered something very incoherently. He quickly shut the door.

"What I have just done, ladies and gentlemen, is just this—a drop of my own blood on this paper. And now..." Sora whispered eerily to us. His tone drew us all in like moths to a bright light—maybe to our deaths. "No one can leave. Let's start the Midnight Game."

I didn't like the sound of the "Midnight Game." Sure, it was only seven thirty, but it could have been ten in the morning and we would all still be scared to shit. I could already hear people muttering, _"I know this game." _and _"I'm scared." _I had to steel my nerves so I wouldn't give in to the urge to run out of the room. Besides, I couldn't leave Naminé by herself. I had to first calm myself down before looking for her again.

"Now, men and women. This is a dangerous game. You must abide by my rules or else there will be severe consequences." Sora told us all. I could tell that we, the unsuspecting guinea pigs, were all trying to be courageous. The school wouldn't let the Meds go that far, would they? This was all a setup...right?

Sora had blown out the candles, and we were now in complete darkness. "Now. All of you will be given salt. There is someone in here...named the Midnight Man...and he will chase you down until the clock strikes eight. At eight, you will all be free to tell everyone outside the story, that is, if you can survive the nightmares..."

"Sora, I'm sorry, but you cannot do this!" A voice yelled through the crowd. It was a superior figure, I could tell by the voice. It was shaky and frightened, yelling at Sora to stop by "school rules".

"Calm down, Mr. Strife," Sora said, walking up to the speaker, which happened to be the very man I wanted to avoid. He whispered slyly to Mr. Strife, though I was right next to him, saying, "It's not real. For the real game to work, It'd have to be midnight, this isn't actually my blood, and it works only in houses."

"No, Sora," Mr. Strife discreetly whispered, but everyone within a two feet radius could hear the conversation. "This can work either way. It is actually more dangerous if you provoke him with those ways." Was this guy seriously bluffing?

"How do you know?" Sora argued, raising his voice.

"I used to play this in high school," he answered, chuckling nervously, as if to relive what little childhood he had. By this time, half the group already heard what was said, and we fully understood what was happening. We were really trapped here. Until eight.

That was when an agile scream was piercing the air. The door was surreptitiously shut and locked, not programmed to open until eight, and the no-lighting situation tightened our fears. I heard a drop to the floor as the screams were decreasing, but each little whisper I heard pinched my spine. I could hear the pearls hitting the floor as the screamer hit the floor with a muffled _thud_.

Naminé.

By the sound of struggling, she was either being bitten by a wandering spider, or worse, being possessed by the alleged "Midnight Man"...What if she was?

I tripped over costumed people and pointy shoes, earning myself a number of bruises. I even pushed Mr. President into several others, which, I think wasn't an accident. Her shrieks sharply increased, and by the time I was at the front entrance of the Meds Hall, I could only see her one leg kicking and the other hanging limp. She was clawing at her arm, like she had a rash, and I didn't see them, but I had the feeling her eyes were glowing. I didn't know what in the hell was going on, but all I could do was stare as the bouncers lead my best friend out kicking and screaming.

* * *

A/N: Oh, hey cliffhanger. How you doin' there?

I swear, Namine isn't a vampire or a werewolf or anything like that. She is a human. But...what is going on with her...?

Part III is coming soon; thank you for the support, and I apologize for all the mistakes I made here :)


	8. Decisive Twilight: Part III

**「Scattered Memory」  
****by **CupcakeLerman  
× dedicated to the Japanese victims of the earthquake; in times of trouble, they need your prayers.  
**Chapter 8: Decisive Twilight : Part III**

The last image of Naminé I saw haunted me. The frantic figure of her spoiled perfection chilled my nerves, just to even think about it. I heard bangs and shouts on the door, and I could tell Naminé did not like being dragged out of anything. Gulping nervously, I faced my attention to the middle of the room (or what I thought was the middle), waiting for Sora's voice to come up again from the darkly shadows.

Eventually, Sora's unusually-higher voice echoed through the halls. "O-kay. Who else wants to get the hell out of here?" I heard nods of agreement, yes's and no's, and soon I felt my hand shoot up. I needed to get out of here. This hallway was just suffocating me just by standing here. Plus, Naminé—what in the world happened to her?

"I'll go first," Sora said, approaching the door. I hadn't realized it yet, but my senses were heightened, my ears almost perking to every noise. I heard the twist of a knob, the squeak of a struggle with it, and eventually, a release of the door handle. Footsteps. Sighs. A voice behind me.

"Locked. From the outside. What the _hell _is going on?" Sora exclaimed. I could almost hear him crying, as did almost everyone else in the room. I didn't move a single inch, and since everyone else was acting like a sour puss, then I guess I'll have to take a stand.

"You do know we're still in the game, right?" I heard my cracked voice rise through the sobs. Several became hushed, until a deep and recognizable voice rose again.

"Who gives a crap? We might as well just sit and wait around until someone gets us in forty-five minutes," the boy Sora called Terra shouted. Hushed agreement words followed.

"Yeah, but as Sora and Mr. Strife mentioned beforehand, we could all be in danger if we stay put. Sora, where's the salt?" I felt completely reckless, like I had nothing to lose (when I could lose my life), and this was just like jumping into an abyss on my way to school. But hey, someone's got to be fearless, right?

I could almost see Sora's frightened expression. His eyes were red from his silent crying, and as I looked lightly into his dim eyes, I felt the need to reassure my younger friend. He really needed help. But as I stood there, a bag of salt was dropped into my hand, and I felt a hand overlap mine.

"Take it, Roxas. Lead them. I'm staying here."

"Sora, no. You gotta come with us. If you don't...this Midnight Man...he'll plague you in nightmares." _Had I really just said that? _Was this now more than a childplay game? No, apparently it was, because I was beginning to nearly panic and take this seriously.

"Roxas...you've always been the brave one," he said to me. "But now, I can't take it. It's an instant ticket to being out of the darkness for just a little while if I just...wait here."

Geez. In all my idiocy and all the racket, I remembered my best friend's truest fear: the midnight, the twilight...the dark. He consoled to me that it made him feel weak and under pressure. This kid, he had too much light that he had to protect it. And he knew he couldn't do that when all around you is an eternal and lurking darkness ready to seep into every crack and crevice, including the ones hidden deep inside other people.

"Okay, dude. But if you need anything, anything—just shout." I turned to the rest of the group, who I could now all see better since my eyes had adjusted a bit. "Everyone who is too immature to join us, stay here at all costs. Everyone else brave enough—come with me."

When I herded my followers, I wasn't all that surprised when I noticed I had only about four out of a the large group of nearly thirty. I divided the salt rations, and with Sora's guidance, instructed everyone on the guidelines. We were to be mobile all the time, and we were to not scream or provoke in any way whatsoever. This was really itching my spine right now, and I had too many jumpy nerves. But when I felt my hand, my index finger wasn't just bare, but I had begun to feel a surrounding pressure on it. Around it, I felt a plastic ring with two hooks on the top, and like always, I felt it. The audacity I needed to get above everything and feel much better. Did _Namine _really have the power to do all that, when she wasn't even in the same room as I?

"Onward," I commanded my small group. Our shoes clanged on the polished surface of the hallway. Groping around for something relatable to a light switch, I didn't find anything of that sort. I almost retracted my arm a bit, since I didn't know what I'd lay my hands on. My right hand was clenched in a fist, gripping tightly on little bits of sandy feeling pebbles of salt.

"Roxas, we have thirty minutes left. Do you think we'll make it?" a girl I recognized as Rikku said questioningly. She was in my Physical Study class this year; I knew her as the braided perky girl that was too helpful to ignore. Even in this infinite dark, I could hear her voice collecting with trust and calmness.

"Of course we will, Rikku. We're the dream team."

"Nice, Roxas." Rikku responded dully.

"Roxas," a new voice appeared. "Don't say anything unnecessary now. It's not really the time." _Ugh. Mr. Freaking Strife. _Who the hell does he think he is? He isn't that cool. And...why is he in my group?

"Shut up, Cloud," I said, unintended and intentional anger seeping in my voice. Did I just tip off my school president/father/stepfather? Why yes, I just did. And it felt awesome.

A stuttered breath was my reply, as I guessed he was done criticizing me. I slowly made my way into what I guessed was a large room. The air was a lot less stifling, although it was probably that way because of our awkward tension, the feeling that someone could leave unwillingly. A breeze tickled my hair, and I felt several others shiver along with me.

"Roxas, did you feel that?" I heard someone other Rikku and Cloud call out. Her voice was surreptitiously brave, but a small portion of a squeak was trying to be strong, and trying hard at best.

"Who's that?" I said.

"It's me. Kairi," the girl's voice said.

"Kairi? Wh-What are you doing here?"

"I'm the, er, leader of Drama Department, remember?"

"Oh, right...well, no matter how cliché it sounds, I did feel that breeze," I replied finally to the unnoticed girl. "You need to go back with Sora. It'll be much safer, Kairi. I—I don't want you to get hurt..." I said, sincerely taking care of younger little Kairi.

"Nah, Roxas—I'm up for a fight today," she said excitedly as I felt her punch my left arm.

"Okay, Kairi, but don't come crying to Sora when you feel a spider crawl up your leg," I muttered mockingly, glancing around the dim room.

"What was that?" Kairi pounced, catching my whispering.

"Nothing, _nothing_," I said, flaunting a smile that no one could see.

A loud crashing noise originating from the hallway caused all of us to spring up, almost too surprised to even inch towards the door way. The monotonous and treacherous room that was once a threat to enter was now a safe haven for us. Loud bangs echoed in the hallway. They vibrated my body as I felt the repercussions move throughout the room, sweeping the rest of my group also. The next things I heard were so deathly terrifying that I finally gave in—this wasn't a child play game, it was real life we were dealing with. Screeches, squeals, cries—all the exaggerated synonyms for 'scream' were played un-exaggerated. Girls, women, men, Sora—I heard discords of these terror-stricken people escape their mouths as sloppy noises, contrasted from the chilling screams, were background noises.

My first instinct was to gather everyone up. I took ahold of Kairi's hand, which I could differentiate from all the bangles on her wrist, and locked mine with her's. I took Rikku's hand, which was shivering violently. Her hands were a lot softer than I'd normally imagine...—So I wrapped an arm around the other team member, who I hadn't gotten the chance to formally meet. Sadly, I also had the sense to take Mr. Strife's rough hands with mine, but I was feeling way to aggravated at him, so I decided to just leave him out of the circle.

I wouldn't say that we were all cringing in the corner or anything, but in actuality, if the lights were on, you'd see we were cowering. I wasn't hiding as much as everyone else was back inside the actual room, because all I could think of was the people outside. Slowly, I crept to the entrance of the hallway. Why the heck were we not "rescued" yet? Naminé was dragged out, right? So, they probably need reinforcements. And now that people were now suddenly shrieking in terror, my head couldn't help but to fill with supernatural thoughts that made my skin crawl and my hands shake.

After what seemed like an eternity, an ominous silence covered the Meds hall. All five of us could feel it—wait, where did they go? Taking a quick inventory check, I discovered the corner they were just in...it was now unoccupied. Nothing. Zip.

"Guys?" I nervously yelled into the dark air. I had the feeling it wasn't the best thing to do, but I couldn't care less. Even if one of them was my mortal enemy, I couldn't help but want to help them. The thing is, I didn't dare move a muscle. Whatever was going on—they'd have to come to me.

After what seemed forever to attention deficit kids and me, I couldn't wait any longer. Whatever was waiting in the hallway was going to meet me, whether they liked it or not. I unconsciously dropped salt the size of ice pellets, sounding as if I dropped a bag of marbles on the stupid floors. My sneakers nervously guided me out into the hall even when I knew it wasn't to be advised to anyone smart enough to realize something was fishy.

What I saw concerned and horrified me. The scene was roughly twenty students lying on the ground, unconscious or not, I don't know, were sprawled all over the exit of the hall. One was trying to pound on the door, but his hand was limping and weak. In the middle of the chaos, Sora laid mystically in the middle of the hallway. With the little slit of light peering finally from a stray window, I could see his chest heaving, his air chilled, and his eyes wide in too much shock.

"Sora!" I called to him. Somehow, I sensed that wasn't the right thing to do, but I realized there had to be a reason, and so this is what I came up with. Kneeling gently to my longtime friend, I could see his eyes fluttering about, seeing like he was drifting off to sleep any second—hopefully not an eternal sleep.

"Sora. Sora, hey. You gotta get up—the game," I tried explaining.

"Roxxxx...as..." I heard him mutter. He voiced genuine concern and trepidation, it made me even shiver. "Don't—look—"

"Look? What..." Like the bad kid I am, I had to take just a peek. As my head wanted to alter directions from Sora's petrified expression, I flashed a list of possibilities of how he could be so terrified. My worst fear was not related to the matter, but my heart was beating relatively irregularly, and I feared that maybe I might collapse before I even get to see—

_Thowp_. A slow reaction on my part made me come to terms that something had indeed dropped from the ceiling, landing on the hallway floor. Panic and other waves of emotion came tumbling to me—namely dread. Dread from what was to come over me as I remained in the hallway of apprehended people, all fearing the same thing as I.

A slick noise pattered on the hallway floor. I knew, without a doubt, that my fate was alike to that of Sora and the rest of the group. What was I to do? The slippery creature walked—_yes, it had feet_—towards me. I could feel the anxiety coursing through my veins as I sucked up all the courage I had to look this thing in the face. I, Roxas, have officially gone mad.

My head turned around slower than a broken carousel just to see the grim eyes of a long-haired woman with estranged looks. A spectral and ghostly moan was her call, which wasn't the only shock. She struck a bearing resemblance to—

* * *

_So many things...swirling about. What happened? Did I save them? _"Thank you...the annual...Festival!" I heard snippets of clear words being said while crickets chirped harmonically. Crickets? That meant...snifffff...fresh air flowed to my head, clearing my penetrating headache. Speaking of fresh air, I found myself sprawled on the courtyard outside the Med Hall. _Did I really make it out alive?_

Head—check. Limbs—check. Sanity—maybe.

"Roxas!" A healthy-colored Sora bounded up to me, still in that silly getup. His lips parted into a huge grin, and he spilled over with laughter.

"You should've...seen your...face!" he said in between his confusing laughs. Of course, what would you expect from Sora?

"You set it all up, didn't you..." I said, controlling my anger and my fierce willing to laugh too. I wanted Sora to feel bad about what he did.

He laid an arm around my shoulder reassuringly before he spoke. "It's my apology. I'm sorry I didn't understand you perfectly before. Now, I understand that you're terrified of the Grudge—"

"Shut up, Sora! That thing was pretty convincing. What, you got a doll or something?"

"A doll? No, of course not! It was—" He dug his arm into the crowd of students outside the hall of doom and pulled out a woman with stringy black hair wearing a white blood-stained dress and the bulgy eyes.

"—This girl." She waved politely, her hands also stained in blood. It was a grim gesture, but it seemed to add levity to the world that revolved confusingly to me. "Hi, Roxas!" the girl in the dress said.

I took one look at the girl. Her dress. Her mocking black hair. I narrowed my eyes, and said, "I hate you, Xion."

"Not my fault, Rox! You've been acting like such a zombie nowadays. I love how everyone also pitched in to daze you. Funny how Sora does it," Xion sweetly said. Sora nodded, agreeing.

"So...Kairi...she was in on it too?" I said. Nods.  
"...and Mr. Strife...?" Extra willing nods.  
"...and Naminé...?" The two partners-in-crime looked at each other before they said in unison. "Yes."

"But how? I thought she wouldn't meet you. I'm so confused..." I patted an area of grass before I took a seat down. Not enough air was circulating in my head, making me feel like I was about to pass out again.

"She did meet up with Xion and I. It's cause we told her we were doing it for you," Sora said, but I wasn't all that convinced. "And so, here we are. And there she is." Sora gestured across the courtyard while my head whirled toward the direction of his pointing. There she really was, Naminé in all her secret glory. Her hands were cupped together, and she was grinning proudly, like I just won a medal or something.

"'Scuse me guys," I said, waving them off while they looked on. I approached Naminé while she just continued to smile, sharing in that inside joke everyone but _me _participated in.

"Hello again, Roxas," she said mockingly to me. "It's funny how you're still sane."

"Naminé! You told me that you wouldn't meet my friends. What changed your mind?" I said, a little hurt she didn't tell me anything.

Her face turned serious, her mien of giddiness fading. "I didn't change my mind. I just improvised. I wanted to help you, and this is why I did what I did. I even went inside after they 'dragged me out'."

"That collapse was a setup?"

She inched away from me. "Yeah."

"Naminé, you had me worried to—"

"I'm sorry, Roxas! But your friends have been telling me you've been acting sick lately, so I thought maybe I'd help them cheer you up—"

"You don't understand, Naminé," I asserted. This conversation, I knew, was going to end up in the wrong places.

"What don't I understand?" she innocently asked, her eyes seemingly sparkling while she pretended to beg by fluttering her eyelashes. That just made it harder to be mad at her.

"...you're the reason I'm acting sick to them, Naminé," I truthfully announced. "I'm always spending time with you, and...and..." I unconsciously took her hand with mine again. "...I'm finding myself wanting to spend _more _time with you."

She was literally glowing at my words. "Thank you, Roxas. But...it's not supposed to be this way. I can't...just keep you away from your friends I'm...I'm..."

"...you're mine, Naminé. And I'm yours. Don't forget it, okay, Naminé?" My face seemed to inch itself a little closer to hers, my head begging me to inch back a little bit more comfortably. But as I resorted to an untimely hug I pulled into, her face buried onto the crook of my shoulder, her mouth whispering words not audible to the rest of the world, I had already accepted it.

Even if she did mutter, "I'm not real..."

* * *

Took so many days to finish(: I somewhat rushed it, since it's only 3,000 words or so. My goal is so hard to reach sometimes. I may have more to write since I gave up playing Kingdom Hearts for Lent, and I'll be implementing that time. So I will be on semi-hiatus to start writing at least two chapters for all the stories I've proposed. I know, I was supposed to _skip _updating on RokuNami Day '11, but I felt it was sleazy or something. Anyways, Enjoy your guys' spring breaks(:

- CupcakeL e r m a n.


	9. Rejection of Fate: Part I

**Scattered Memory.  
****by **CupcakeLerman  
**Chapter 9: Rejection of Fate - Part I**

"She's just a girl I know."

"I don't know, Roxas...you've been spending a lot of time with her..."

"...What, I can't hang around girls anymore?"

"No, all I'm saying is...maybe you..."

"Mom. Just...no. I'm not into her like that," I tried reasoning with my mom.

The sky was dimly back dropped with the bold moonlight as I walked home with Tifa by my side. At the end of the fair, we both agreed to walk home together; half because I was scared shitless—fearing every corner like a repeat of the earlier events—and half because I didn't want her exactly around that untrustworthy Cloud. I had encountered Tifa directly after I had a little meet up with Naminé. Tifa was holding hands intently with the weather-named man I despised with all my being, naturally. They gazed into each other's eyes, infatuated with the very sight of each other. I didn't want to feel like I was a peeping little kid or anything by spying on them, but, I figured it was different. To be honest, Tifa was closer to a sisterly-figure than the motherly role she had gladly volunteered for.

I realized after about thirty minutes too long of staring that maybe I should've been doing something else, like monitoring our hallway. After that little scarred-for-life experience I never wanted to relive, I decided that Xion, Sora, and his group should win first place for best exhibit, which they thoroughly deserved. What did I do? Set up a mirror house and attempted to scare people. Even though we did get positive feedback about it, it wasn't as adequately as "life-changing" as Sora's idea. And the objective to target one person in particular? Fascinating; unless that one person happens to be you.

Now honored with the third place trophy, Tifa and I were making our way home, with me ignoring Mr. Conflict's begging pleas to lend us a ride home. I had to admit, riding in the shiny sleek convertible did seem like a convincible idea, but that wasn't the point. I had pushed him aside, explaining rationally that we could walk the few blocks, spun in the other direction, and almost directly collided with an almost-as-startled Naminé.

"Oh, hey, sorry about that," I had apologized to her, brushing her shoulders off slowly. She almost seemed to come out of nowhere, her presence seemingly non-detectable.

"It's okay, Roxas. Congrats on the third place, huh. I'll see you on Monday?" she grinned, her face shining happily as the sun began to set behind her.

"Oh, sure...Great job with the exhibit, _and _with the whole prank on me," I said, tapping her on the shoulder, referring to her involvement in my almost death.

"You're welcome, Roxas," she says, a somewhat insidious grin sneaking to her lips. I didn't know what to make of it; a foreboding of a future occurrence? No, it probably didn't pertain to that one phrase she had spoken earlier that completely perturbed me. I don't know what it could've been, but it persuaded me enough to not notice where she had walked off to, without even a simple exchange of a goodbye.

Meanwhile, my mother had finished her praising and recognition of Cloud's magnificent two-seater sports vehicle and allowed him to speed off, leaving Tifa and I to relish in the dust cloud it had created. She waved her hand reluctantly in the direction the car sped off to, promising to see him soon.

"Why didn't you go with him?" I asked, somewhat a little contemptible about being the reason he left her with me. I wasn't much of a scapegoat in any situation.

"He's bringing his daughter home," she replied, dusting her black skirt and combing through her hair. From her expression, I could see the admiration in her eyes, the pride that she discovered under the discretion that she was dating this man. We started walking, and she seemed pretty fine with us walking home instead of our neighbors taking us home.

"He has a daughter?" I accusingly point out, knowing undoubtedly that it was true. I hadn't know of that fact until now. "Nice one."

She ignores my arrogant comment and continues walking. I keep pace with her, and slowly but surely, I noticed that our humble abode was coming closer and closer. I pulled my keys out when we reached the front door, not stunned by the fact that Cloud's glowing leisure vehicle was conveniently parked outside that shiny house across the street. With a slight twist from the knob, our door opens and I lead Tifa inside while I settle my coat down and set the table for dinner.

**—- - - -**

I had such a long weekend that I decide to cancel all those plans I had for Sunday and call it a weekend. Before I can even think about putting my feet up and reclining or even lifting a bowl out of the cupboard, I find myself blinking and wincing not so willingly back in school under the heavy drenching fluorescent lighting. _Oh, what I'd kill for it to be the weekend once again._

At lunch I find myself sitting at my initial table together with all my original friends. I don't even remember how long it had been since it was that way. Slowly, I realize that none of us are speaking or conversing. After that eventful and stifling weekend fair, I would expect us retelling a repeated story about how Roxas was scared to death by none other than the mischievous Sora. He is sitting across from me, adjusting his white polo collar, hinting at the unusual tension. Kairi is sitting rather stiffly at his left, her hands folded on top of the table. Xion, wearing her trademark black sweater, fiddled with her strands of hair awkwardly, her eyes glimpsing towards me on her left and to basically everything around the room. Riku, who even bothered to come to school today, was sitting five chairs away from us, resting his head of silver on the lunch table.

Thankfully, with the flip of a switch, we find our mouths prepared to start talking all at once. I look to everyone else to see if they felt it too, and, by the look on their faces, they look more than eager to. We realize that it had been slightly too long since we were all together like this. It was a wonder we were still friends. But suddenly, we all had the urge to resume conversation like we used to.

"C'mon, Roxas...come to the Junior Prom with me?" I first hear from behind me. Turning in my seat, I see a trio of similar-looking girls flashing and battin their eyes at me. One of them is staring intently into my eyes, making an attempt to allure me to say thoughtless words in her favor.

"Sorry, girls. I'm not looking to go," I politely respond. There is a look of regret and disappointment on their faces, and I don't feel the least bit bad. I don't even know them; why would I associate with them, a crowd of attention-seeking self-centered girls?

"Nice going, Roxas," a smirking Sora says to me, his face mischievous and sly, mocking my choice.

"Hey, I don't exactly know them, so..." I argued, knowing fully well that I was right to say no. Kairi begins perking up at all the commotion.

"Hey, Roxas. Then who are you gonna go with now?" Sora says, thinking I'm particularly stumped on that, when I already knew the answer.

"I don't know...it's like, next week. Why don't I wait for someone else..." I suggest, patting my blond hair reflexively. Quietly in my head, I am thinking, "_Hey, why not go with you-know-who! You __know...her!_" Would I be thrilled to go with her? Question is...would _she_ be thrilled to go with me?

"Hey, Kairi, want to go with me to the Junior prom?" I hear Sora say, not the slightest confident, just trying to pretend he's not nervous at all. To my right, Xion stifles a giggle, her ocean eyes teary and revealing her happy nature.

"Sure, Sora!" Kairi agrees happily, nearly bouncing off her seat. Her auburn hair flies in several directions as she spins in her chair, hyped from Sora's abrupt request.

"You guys aren't even allowed to go," I say, laughing at their conversation. Xion laughs loudly right next to me.

"Duh," Sora replies. "Sneak in...we practically look like juniors, right?" He puts a nervous arm around Kairi's shoulder, slowly and hesistantly, like the way he always does with only Kairi. I take a reviewing look at the two perfect-smiling kids and grinning like the sophomores they are. "Sure do, Sora," I say sarcastically, judging randomly and laughing at their gullibleness.

"Then it's settled. Kairi, Roxas, and I are going to Junior Prom, when the reality is...only one-third of those people are juniors," Sora acknowledged with a whimsical smile inching on the corner of his lips.

"Good luck with that," I say, fully knowing that security is pretty tough on prom day, ready to eject and receive prom goers. Speaking of prom, I still had to make the decision of actually going. I didn't necessarily have anyone to go with yet, and I didn't think proms were my kind of thing. It was all...frills and streamers and sparkles, that day, nothing more but another memorable day made by the juniors and seniors alike.

However, the question peaked my interest for the entire day. I couldn't stop questioning myself—maybe I should go, maybe I shouldn't! This is the most thought I had ever paid to social gatherings labeled as "dances." I'd shake off any requests from Sora, Kairi, Olette, and others to go as a group just because I could do something better that day. But, now, this junior prom idea didn't sound so bad...

"Roxas!" Naminé yells from across the hallway. I hurry to her side, skirting around hoards of wandering people, eventually making it to her side.  
"Oh, Namine, I was just thinking of you," I admit shyly. She looked happy and said, "Why?"

"Oh, you'll know soon," I hint. We continue making our way to the elective hall. We silently strode there, my hand somehow inching towards hers suspiciously, like I wasn't commanding my hand to, but it somehow did unconsciously, like I meant to do it...

Naminé politely interrupts our lingering silence, looking up towards me with still eyes. "Roxas?" she asks, her eyes probing me. "Yeah?" I reply, almost lost in a lot of thought.

"Want to come over my house today?" she says quietly yet confidently, and I'm more than surprised. I feel so willing, like I wanted her to ask that very question. It was a lot similar to that certain prom question I was just thinking about asking her...

"...I mean, so we can like, you know...talk, about...things...we haven't talked about yet...?" she says slowly, somehow deciding if she should really be asking me about this. I look imploringly at her cute face looking at mine for a nervous answer. Was I really begging her to invite me over?

"Y-Yeah why not?," I found myself saying. Inside, I was feeling extremely relieved that she was allowing me to go to her house after school. I felt so trapped in school that I couldn't really speak to her about anything I really wished to talk to her about, such as that freakish stalker on the news that I was particularly worried about, and just to know her better. I barely even knew her hometown, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to swivel things around.

So with that conversation away, and the tell-tale bell ringing for the start of a new period, I eagerly looked forward to after school. I finally would get to meet Naminé's parents, and know more about her, like a friend should really feel about each other. There were so many questions I began preparing, and formal introductions I had rehearsed in my head over and over for her parents.

"Sir Strife, yeah, up here!" I faintly hear while I'm staring a little spacey outside the window. I don't pay any attention to words not directly aimed towards me until a loud bang echoes from my table. It's the sound of my knees, in fact my whole body, lurching upwards, banging on my table. I nearly fell back out of place until a hand pushed me back. It's Ven's. He looked a little amused, almost like he had nothing better to do then to push me back up, but everyone in the class looked that way during the last periods.

"Mr. Roxas," Mr. Fair says to me from the front of the classroom before placing a black remote back in his drawer. "Please pay attention next time, or I'll bump it up to five shocks." Of course. It was the electric shock chairs we patented last month, officially nicknamed the "death remote." I very much regret building that.

"Y-Yes...sir," I say, a little frazzled from the electric shock. I'm rubbing my static-sparking hair, almost forgetting the effects of static electricity. Ven's amused smile now turns into an entertained look.

When the clock had hit three, I was the first to push back on my chair and grabbing my bag. I wave a goodbye to Mr. Fair and Ventus, their expressions a little confused, and I'm silently hoping they wouldn't come and talk to me about anything. I drift through the sea of teenagers trying to be the first to leave too, and I finally get to my locker, retrieve my jacket, and give the locker door a big slap. It finally shuts for the day. I stride towards the same tree in the front of the school, our usual meeting spot, and I see her bright blond hair waving in the breeze next to the tree. She waves me over, and I just want to be there immediately, not to keep a lady waiting.

But right when I'm about to approach her, a strident shriek yells my name. "ROXAS! ROXAS! ROXAS!" an oddly dyed-haired man yells towards me, his hair pointing in all different directions. His trivial green eyes are shockingly bright, but not as insanely fluorescent and creepy as his irrationally unnatural fire-colored hair. For a moment, I began wondering to myself why some mentally unstable pyromaniac or red-centric kid would come and approach me. Faintly, I remembered that remarkable hair as it bobbed uncontrollably towards me.

"WE ONLY HAVE TIME FOR ONE ROXAS, WHAT DO YOU WANT?" I holler back, frustrated at his lack of natural hair and annoying coincidence at interrupting a moment of peace.

The man looks a bit taken aback at me yelling at him, but how couldn't he have seen that I'm in a hurry? He's wearing the senior sweater theyare usually given to optionally wear, and I assume he's in the senior class ahead of me. He looks pretty familiar, so I don't know how to approach him after yelling at him. He clears his through and regains composure before talking to me.

"Your exhibit at the House of Horrors was AWESOME. Like, I looked in every single mirror, and I'm just like 'Wow, what a rip-off,' and then I see this freaky-looking woman pop out of the mirror and I am scarred for _LIFE_. Dude, I'm your biggest fan! My name's Axel, by the way, you know, super badass-looking part-time news reporter for the local news? Yeah, that's me...get it memorized..."

"Thanks and all, Axel..." I took a moment to take a fleeting glance at Naminé's posture to see if she appeared ready leave. I had noticed she wasn't paying attention to my truancy, so I slowed my words a little. Turning back to Axel to cue him to hurry along, I say, "But I need to catch up with someone—"

He followed my speedy peek, and now it seemed like he understood everything. "OH, I see, Roxas...fight, fight, fight..." I had no idea what that was supposed to mean.

He tossed me a business card with his serious-ass picture on it, him smiling maniacally as if to announce, 'I'm on the news almost every day and I look so much better than you.' It wasn't exactly pleasing.

"Gimme a call, Roxas!" and he took off in the opposite direction, spazzing every few feet, yelling into the air, "ROXAS, ROXAS, ROXAS!" At first I don't even think to trust him or anything, but I guess I may have to look out for him later. I flip the calling card momentarily to look over whatever credentials he had presented, and saw he also had several other professions lined up, like a resume.

"Who was that?" Naminé's voice tells me. I look up from the card. Her voice sounds whispy, like I didn't actually hear it with my own ears, but more like it was a relapsed message through headphones.

I turn around to try to face her. "Oh, it was just—" My eyes move side to side, above and below, wondering where she was if I could hear her very closely. I am appalled to find that she is still standing by the distinct tree in the distance, unmoving and stationary. Her hand rests on the bark while she is standing firmly towards me, smiling towards me, almost edging me in her direction just with that. My mind is racing into different directions, trying to decipher what to make of this. An illusion? A made-up reality? And despite all the signs that have been given off recently that suggest me in a different direction, I abstractly out-of-my-being begin to walk myself towards that looming tree with the spectator underneath it. Her hand is unwavering, as if to reassure me that I should walk over and nothing can abruptly stop me. And nothing does.

**—- - - -**

"You know the way to my house?" Naminé says while lying on her aqua-plush bed, precariously dipping pretzel sticks into a hazelnut-spread jar.

"Yeah, why?" I reply from her multi-colored computer chair. I seem cool and collected spinning around on the swivel chair, but inside I'm over excitedly spinning around in my Ferris wheel imagination. Of course, I'd never say that Naminé.

She bites into the pretzel stick, licking the chocolate-hazelnut off her fingertips. "I love the cherry blossoms they have there on sale at the market."

"Oh really?" I say, stopping my revolving world to try to have a straight face on. "My mom was given one yesterday." By Cloud Strife, I'd unhappily add in my mind.

"Hm. My dad bought one yesterday, and I haven't seen it yet. I'm very eager to. Maybe I could sketch it someday," Naminé thoughtfully says. A smudge of hazelnut spread stays on the corner of her lips as she reaches for another pretzel out of the jar. I am unhesitant when I push the wheels of the chair across her wood flooring to her bed. Before she takes another bite out of the pretzel, I touch the tip of my finger on my lips and touch that little corner of her pink lips stained by the chocolate she left behind. It happens so fast, I don't even react to my actions. In fact, I didn't even reflect on those events ever again. It was another second nature, like trusting her when normally it would be so hard to place trust in someone so mysterious. She notices my change in behavior herself, her eyes lifting lightly to meet mine, but she pays no action to apprehending anything.

"By the way, where are your parents?" I ask her, still cleaning the smudge like a parent to a child. When I finish, I put my hands on the chair, hoping that she wouldn't scold me for such an untimely action. Naminé didn't look a bit flustered. She appeared as if she also thought of it as second nature. Appeased with a happy grin on her face, she happily chewed on another pretzel while saying, "My mother's out with my brothers, and my father visits his old friends on these days."

"Wow, you must be a busy family," I say, almost reluctant to thinking if I should continue in this conversation.

"Yes, they are," Naminé says, slowly chewing on the stick quietly, thinking to herself.

For a moment there is a still silence filled with muffled chewing and my chair's hinges squeaking from me spinning around and around. I am still diffident on asking Naminé to the prom, but I can't help but wonder—what'll she say? Could she say no? Of course she could, but, _would she...?_

While I'm lost in thought, Naminé stands from her bed and places her food on the nightstand. She then bends over and retrieves a sketchpad and colored pencils from her bag. Fixing herself back on the bed, she rolls her red sweater sleeves up and opens the pad. Colors swirl in multidimensional spaces; Monochrome drawings took up nearly a dozen pages of the book; and details were carved into the creative design of Naminé's interior mind on paper. This is what lifts me from the thoughts incomparable to hers.

"Naminé, I know you're a good artist and all, but...this is fantastic. Enough to fantasize having your skill for," I comment, still surprised for her sudden act of artistic talent.

She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. "Thank you, Roxas. I only started last year, when I wasn't attempting to skateboard like a professional." She lifts a dark blue colored pencil with a dull tip and suddenly asks, "Can I draw you, Roxas?"

It may have been an abrupt question that I should have given some thought to, but instead, I hastily say, "Oh, sure," as if this offer would decline itself.

Without another word, she sets to drawing. I pay attention to her minute details, since the idea I was taking in my head was to draw her a picture to prom. I highly guaranteed that would not work out, with my highly disappointing art skills. Every few seconds though, she'd stall her blooming art to sharpen a dull pencil. Some of the pencils were smaller than the length of my fingers, too. She ignored the extra amount of work she had to put into this drawing or sharpening her already skewed pencils, and was still sketching nevertheless.

By the time I left her house, I still hadn't met her parents, or eaten dinner, or finish a scrap of homework, but I did have an accurate sketch of myself. It seemed a little like Déjà vu, seeing another artwork of me from Naminé...

_Walking in the empty hallways overlooking the courtyard, I looked on the walls, which were decorated with prodigy work; Naminé's included. I smiled when my tracing finger overlapped her abstract painting adorned on the wall. A hooded figure in black in front of a crystal fissure. The figure appeared to look like he was running, and it seemed that...that he was—__tall...slender...and...blonde__—me._

_I paused in front of it while my head began to ache. I let it pass, since I was still admiring this hidden portrayal as me...Naminé. She had done this. I wasn't the least bit embarrassed, but more of...happy?_

Which blatantly reminded me that I had forgotten to ask her where she really was from! Ugh, how could I even think to go to the prom with someone when I didn't even know her hometown, or her surname? Leaving her house, I don't even pay attention to my surroundings. There wasn't anything noticeable; just some other affluent looking houses and their high-class vehicles parked in front. In front of Naminé's house, there are two pricey cars parked in the driveway. I sucked in all the temptation to climb into the sleek gold one just for pretend and turn a right to pass the market before I made my way home.

I opened the door with a grocery bag in hand to find my mother sprawled on the floor with a blanket over her. I was about to walk over to her to see what had happened, until I saw a looming Cloud over her, his eyebrows knit with concern.

"Hey! Cloud! What do you think you're—"

"Shh," he said, placing a finger over his mouth in a hushed manner. "You'll wake Tifa."

As I stepped closer I noticed she was breathing softly, whistling in her sleep, as the blanket seemed to cradle her position on the floor. She was sound asleep, hoping not to be bothered by anyone. Which begged the question...why was she on the floor?

"I know, I know, bad situation to be in," Mr. Strife said hesitantly when he saw me close the door.

"You're telling me! You better explain this to me, dad—"

"Shh, Roxas. Your mother can tell you the story." He places a hand on my shoulder, trying to reassure my peaked nerves, but just raising my blood pressure a little higher with intimidated anger.

"Listen," he continued. "When she wakes up, tell her I'll see her this weekend, and that I love her. Got that, buddy?" He grins like I was assigned to keep a secret.

"Sure." I finally say, debating if he really knew who I was.

"Thanks, Roxas. Be a good boy, now. You're a legacy!" He grabs his coat and car keys off the coffee table and heads out the door while I stand by the door and watch. He sees me still standing guard and waves to me before he climbs into the driver side of his fancy vehicle. The engine roars to life, loud enough to wake Tifa, but he drives down the road anyways.

I turned my attention to my mother lying on the floor. She was still breathing softly and looked rather peaceful there. In her pleasant silence, I hoped she was having wonderful dreams—any dream she possibly wanted, even if it was against my wishes. Because in that intricate moment, I knew that it wasn't all about me. She should enjoy her life, whether I was in it or not.

"Hi, Roxas," a ragged voice says, lifting from the floor. Tifa rises to see my eyes, her hair messy and clothes a little ruffled. "Cloud left?"

"Just did," I said, thumbing towards the door. He wanted to remind you that he loves you...and that he'll see you this weekend for something...what, now?"

"Oh, Roxas," she says, standing from her makeshift bed. "I want us to have dinner together. As a family," she said excitedly.

"Ugh," I groaned, obviously not enjoying the idea. I trudge over to the sink for two glasses for water. "Do I have to?"

"Roxas! Come on, please? For me? You'll meet his own family!" Tifa begged me. I handed her the glass and she drank every drop like a dehydrated puppy.

"Fine, mom. I'll see you tomorrow," I say before setting a glass in the sink.

"Thank you, Roxas! Bye, honey," she replies, blowing me a kiss while I walk down the hallway. "Tell Cloud I love him too!" she shouted from behind my closed door.

Hm. My mom really does love Cloud. _"You're a legacy_," Cloud's voice resonates soundly, his voice superior and proud. For the first time in a long time, I am finally relieved he has paid decent attention to me. Maybe him being with Tifa was a good idea. _Maybe_.

I take a look outside the window that has a perfect view of across the street at Mr. Strife's house. His phantom black sports car slips next to his other gold-dipped and red-stained cars, too fancy for my taste. He climbs out of the car, walking up to the door, pushing a button on the side. A tiny blonde Cloud look-alike in framed glasses opens the door and hugs Mr. Strife. I assume it's his daughter, and surprisingly, I'm happy for her. She has the best dad in the world.

* * *

**A/N: **on **this chapter: **yes, it's another multi-part story arc. The name is a keyblade from 358/2 Days; oh, and it was so father-centric, wasn't it :D  
_i wonder if anyone knows what's going to happen, since I dropped so many hints in this chapter._

So it's been like two months...I'm so sorry readers D: A lot has happened, and I was caught up in other things, but this kept bugging me, so I wrote it. It isn't too rushed, is it? I did put 5,000+ words, and that's good, right? Good.

During my break from writing, I sent my name to Mars, mourned the loss of Kingdom Hearts II in the Smithsonian thing, started playing Kingdom Hearts I, re:Coded, and Crisis Core, the last being a second-playthrough, and completing the first chapter of my other new Sora/Kairi story, **On Crystal Sand**! It still has to go through minor changes, and it should be up **very soon**. I have Finals soon though D:

_Oh, and **if you're going to add this story on favorites or just read it, I please ask that you leave a comment! **I'm not looking to have a thousand reviews, but all I'm asking is for feedback; even if you just say **CONTINUEPLZ** it honestly doesn't matter. I'd love to hear feedback on all spectrums._

**- Cupcake**_L e r m a n. _


	10. Rejection of Fate: Part II

**Scattered Memory.**

**- by CupcakeLerman**

**Chapter 10: Rejection of Fate - Part II**

Another day, another chance.

I was looking forward to this new day of possibilities. After realizing that Naminé and I weren't even formally acquainted like I had wished, it seemed that taking a step and "inviting her to prom" would also help in the progress of our relationship—friend relationship, mind you.

I didn't want to choreograph a trendy dance or write lyrics for her. True, I would've done it, but it seemed too overplayed and I had seen it all over this school in the past week. I didn't want to tell others about this, but I had tried multiple times to draw or recreate a drawing of Naminé and I. Even in children's standards, it was horrible. Absolutely horrible—Scribbles, mushes, and our hair looked like _shit_. Why wasn't I good at this?

Halfway through the last week before prom, I'd taken the wrong step to try and ask others. Seeing as it's common to have creative prom-asking ways, I started with the seniors, but it was not fruitful at all.

_Aqua, the girl from Naminé's art class_: Give her flowers. Chicks dig flowers.

_Ventus, the boy that looks a lot like I do_: I don't know...hey, how about you and I do a duet to a song, like _Baby_ or _One Less Lonely Girl_?

_Aqua, again_: Ven...that is _so_ gay.

_Ven, again_: Yeah—it is.

I even tried asking a so-called mood less and black hole that targeted happiness in the senior class—his name was Vanitas, and, don't tell Sora I said this, but him and Sora have that thing like Ventus and I looking alike. I bet we're all related and we don't even know it.

But all he had to supply to me was:

_Vanitas, black-hole targeting happiness_:Prom's for pansies.

I took his advice, and went to go look elsewhere. Knowing there wasn't much knowledge in either Sora or Kairi, I resorted to my last hopes; people that I have _regrettably _haven't seen since September:

_Hayner, abuser of video games_: It's kind of like Christmas. Just give her anything, and once she tries it out, she'll love it! Preferably, video games. Dude, I got to give Olette a copy of _Red Dead Redemption_, and she is obsessed with it now! Score!

There wasn't much conversation here. I merely sat in my room, pressing my phone to my ear, just thinking of my options. I already knew what Hayner was going to do about Olette, but—

_Olette, girl Hayner liked to talk about_: VIDEO GAMES. This is the only thing required to live!

_Hayner_: That's my girl.

Why is everyone resolving their own problems and turning out prosperous? I'm stuck in this problem of how to deal with someone so…so…solution less. Maybe I should just ask her what she wanted. Maybe _that_ would work out. But just by doing that, I would eliminate every element of surprise. Oh, what other options did I have?

I cleared my throat before talking to Naminé, who was lying next to me."Hey, Naminé," I said to her reluctantly. It was free period Tuesday, and we all had a chance to roam campus as we pleased. Most people took this opportunity to ask out their chosen picks for prom, since it was next Wednesday. We were still on high alert of any suspicious characters, because the stupid predator from the news had previously sent a letter to the school that he was targeting people in our area. I was reading one of the posted signs in the Commons area, and all I could conceive about this person was that he or she was twisted if they expected to succeed in kidnapping one of us.

Back during free period, my eyes traveled away from the sky I marveled at, with its wandering clouds in numerous directions, and I followed a path to some place shadier. I saw Naminé's trance-like expression piercing towards the sky, like a hawk waiting for its prey, or just a tender-loving nature observer. She had those sort of moments, where she'd momentarily blank out and seem to stare into space longer than normal. I added that to my list of strange characteristics of Naminé, but not once did I criticize her for it. She needed someone to be with, and I would be there for her.

It took her a while to respond, but when she did, she acted as if there weren't a three minute gap between my first call. "Yes, Roxas?" She smiled, looking over to my side. We had our arms wide, spanning across the grass, and our fingers were barely touching. It was serene to be with her, together, like this.

"Uh…do you want to…uhm, _uh_—"I stuttered, and the one thing that came to my rescue was remembering a store Naminé was particularly interested in. Maybe that would help in my search for something to give to her.

"Roxas?" Naminé said, sitting up to look at me, a concerned expression weaved on her face. "You okay?"

I sprung up, and took Naminé's hand in my mine. She looked a little more flustered, but she just looked on. "Let's go out," I courageously announced to her.

"Roxas, we're not allowed to leave campus. If someone finds out we're—"

"—It's okay, sweet cheeks," I playfully said, a strange foreign accent somehow sneaking into my speech. "I'll protect _yah_."

Naminé doubled over in laughter, and it wasn't long until I did too. It wasn't long until I needed air from laughing so hard, and Naminé looked as if she would pass out.

"Come on, _doll face_," I said, continuing the charade. "I'll even sing to _ya_ on the way there."

Naminé's laughter came to slight chuckles now. "Will you—_really_?" she said.

"_Shure_! Come, come!" I started pacing myself towards the end of the corridor where we could escape. My paces turned into sprinting, not caring that my shoes made really loud noises against the concrete. From behind me I could hear Naminé's sandals patting on the floor, and that's all it took for me to keep running at full speed. Pretty soon, we were at the front entrance, but I didn't stop there. First, I made sure that Naminé was still behind me, and then I checked to see if there was anyone watching us that could report us. After a full-scan of the area and Naminé had already caught up to me, she locked her hand with mine, and we took off running, our shoes making the _loudest_ noises they could ever make.

"Where—" Naminé yelled to me, "—are we going?" She panted, but she didn't stop running, almost like she was chasing me.

"The art store! I wanna go buy something there—"I told her. We were now two blocks away from the school campus, but I didn't think we should stop there. Naminé was running alongside me, content with my idea of visiting her _favorite _store, not at all faltering in speed, and for about ten minutes, I felt so _infinite_; wind whipping through our hair, brushing along our skin, causing tears to slip down my cheeks—it was incredible.

We finally reached the same art store we went to during the week of the Festival. In front of the store, I finally felt that we were safe, about a mile away from the school. How we managed to run a mile in about fifteen minutes, I didn't even consider. Naminé tried catching her breath next to me, but she didn't waste any time walking to her heaven on earth. Once I walked into the store, I couldn't even locate her anymore—all I saw were aisles and aisles of crayons, stencils, colored pencils—

That's where Naminé was—staring at this fifteen-pack of colored pencils. Her eyes would light up whenever she'd pull out a pencil, whether it was a normal gray or a bright blue. I went to where she was, in the aisle surrounded with all different brands of pencils, and saw that she was taking out all the pencils in all the boxes, like a child experimenting with all the colors.

"Hey, Naminé, what're you doing?" I asked her, unsure if she could even hear me against all the thoughts in her head on _pencils_.

"Looking at colored pencils; I _really _need new ones. I've had my old ones since I was _eight_," she informed me, picking up another pencil and looking at it intently.

"Wow. Okay, well I'm going to the paint section _all_ the way over there." I pointed to the farthest section over as far away from Naminé as possible. She briefly nodded to me, and also reminded me that "_We should probably leave in five minutes._"

"I'll see you then."

"Yeah…bye…"

I walked in the opposite direction and turned a corner into another aisle, and walked only a few feet when I turned on my heel, making sure there wasn't a squeak in my shoe, and looked back into the aisle. Naminé was still deeply transfixed on this one packet of colored pencils. She flipped the front cover around and the brand's name—_The Third Day—_was written in stylish lettering. There were only thirteen pencils, but Naminé seemed so affixed on this one package that she looked like she wanted to walk out of the store with it.

But she didn't, and I watched as she groaned and continued browsing down the aisle. From my base, I could still see the colored pencil pack she was looking at and saw that it was made of a stunningly beautiful white wood. It seemed appropriate that Naminé would stare at this pack interestingly; it looked like the same ones she had at home, except _hers _were made of _brown _wood, astoundingly different from this new and updated one.

Before I could realize it, Naminé was out of sight. I checked my watch to make sure five minutes hadn't passed, and I noticed only three did pass without me noticing. Checking behind and in front of me, I still didn't find her, so I hazardously strode into the aisle, still scanning the area for any sight of the blonde-haired girl.

A huge big object was obstructing my way, and before I even thought about yelling at this huge guy, he turns to me, and I see his _face_. Well, it wasn't his face…it was more of just a couple mummy-style bandages wrapped around his entire face, disclosing his identity. The only thing spared was his right eye, and that was enough to make my words stop coming out of my mouth. It was a startling orange-brown color that they probably didn't even sell contacts for, and it was staring right at _me. _

"May I help you, young boy?" he suddenly asks me, and I'm left to notice how deep his voice is. I jump back a little, away from him, but he doesn't notice. I plan to pretend that I'm a helpless little boy looking for his mom in the store, but that doesn't happen. Before I even speak, a hand grabs my left arm, and I almost fall head first. I closed my eyes, feeling my body being almost dragged away, but then I ask myself—_Am I flying? _The wind is once again breezing around me, but it isn't the same as when Naminé and I were running to the store. It was almost exactly like I was on a bicycle going down a hill, the wind nearly whipping my hair out from its roots. I hope that that amber-eyed man isn't trying to kidnap me, but if he does, he _better _fix my hair.

"Roxas? Roxas! Are you alright?" a nervous voice talks to me. The wind has died down, the left side of my body is burning, and I notice that my eyes are still closed. Cautiously, I open my eyes to find the said blonde that I was _just _thinking about staring down at me with burning blue eyes that seemed on the brink of tears. "What just happened…" I muttered a little incoherently, my gaze still fascinated on those shining eyes.

"Oh my goodness, you're all right!" she says to me before she envelops me in her embrace. I smell strawberry shortcake and watermelons, and if it is indisputable, it smelled _phenomenal._ It's enough to take my attention away from where we were taken.

"Were we—_abducted_?" I ask very quietly, almost bringing my voice to a whisper, but not quite.

"No, we're at school…" Naminé says to me, reassuring me that I have nothing to worry about. I look around and notice that she is right—we were just in an empty and abandoned classroom, if there ever was an abandoned classroom.

"Oh." The school bell rings its familiar tone, and I know that I have to get out of this classroom fast. It would spread around pretty fast that Naminé and I had snuck out of campus and I had fainted in the process. I hastily sit up, and Naminé helps me up by the hand. We both adjust our rustled clothes and disheveled hair, mine being a bit harder than fixing normal hair.

Thankfully, no one sees us, and everyone doesn't pay attention to two teenagers leaving an unsupervised classroom and fixing their hair and clothes, which I found rather odd, Naminé was still adjusting her sandals on right, so I guessed it probably came loose when we were running quickly.

"Well, well, well…what do we have here…?" a mocking voice says from behind me. Ven approaches both of us questioningly, intrigued by our out-of-place looks. "I see you're quite the _skank _now, are you, Roxas?"

"Shut up, Ven. It's none of your business," I angrily replied, staring at Ven for making such a petty remark. Naminé smiled a little, but then recalled that she had to make it to class, what with her perfect attendance record.

"I'm sorry about today, Roxas! I'll see you after school, if you want!" she called to me while she brushed her hair while walking off in the other direction.

I was still trying to re-spike my hair, but it still didn't look as good as it did this morning. I looked up to where Naminé was and replied, "Oh sure, see you later." I watched as she sprinted off to the elective hall.

"So…what was this about?" Ven asks, helping me fix my hair to its alike quality to his. He pulls out some _pocket gel_, and I don't question it that much.

"Don't tell anyone, but we headed out. I was going to go shopping with her—"

"Ah, so you're _shopping _together now?"

"Not quite. We ran into a little trouble, so we headed back. And here you are, thinking I had an _affair _inside the school…" I accused him, rolling my eyes at Ven.

"Cool story, Rox. Hey, listen." Ven stopped styling my hair and looked at me. "I won't tell anyone, unless—"

"—unless I help you with something, right?"

Ven snickered proudly, leaning his arm around my shoulder. "You know me so well, twin."

—- - - -

That week, as I mentioned, I had acted like a wingman for more than one occasion. Since prom was coming up (and I still didn't have a proper date yet), I decided to help those that actually could excel in their prom wishes by becoming the background suede actor. More than once, I'd had to be the soulful singer, the additional dancer—or, in all the cases—the _victim_.

"Stand right there. Don't move. Got it? And remember the lines I've told you!" Ven said, finishing aligning me literally two inches in front of the door to the Visual Arts department. He quickly readjusted my already fixated tie, choking me in the process. It was three minutes until class let out, and Ventus made sure that Aqua, his blue-haired fair-maiden, would be the very first to come out, and _I_ would be very well prepared for this situation.

"Ven...You know it's so fucking hot. Why am I wearing this monkey suit?" I whined, the sudden October heat making the unnecessary dress shirt and cardigan suffocate me. And the fact that the latter was black, and the sun was _already_ killing me...I didn't think I could last in it.

Now, why wasn't Ventus doing this? Well, you see, Ven and I, as I have previously mentioned, are unrelated, yet we look extremely alike. Ven claims he would've done it himself, but it seems he suddenly came down with a cold, and didn't want to get Aqua "_sick_." So for this day, I was a kid named Ventus that ate truckloads of Pocky on weekends, and was now asking the artsy Aqua out to the senior prom.

The bell began ringing, signaling Ven to go hide behind a pillar or something of that sort. Though I was only a few couple inches taller than little Ven, he was a senior, and maybe, just maybe, Aqua would notice the difference. In that case, I would drag Ventus out against his wishes and have him formally propose— the way a true man should do, _thank you very much._

Right on time, the door to the classroom opened, sending a brush of a cool draft escaping through the new opening. Hastily taking my cues, I already pulled the bouquet of flowers from behind my back, expecting to deliver them to Ven's date, but instead, presenting them to—

"Roxas? W-What is this?" the first person to leave the room said, rather confused at the situation she was in. Immediately her cheeks turned rosy, and she reached up in an attempt to cover them.

"N-Naminé! I'm sorry; it's for V-Ven!" I stuttered, completely astounded she would be the first to leave _and_ the first I would see. I thought Ventus had this all planned out!

"V-Ven? I don't think he would love those coming from you, unless—"

"N-No! Not that! Can you please step a-away?" I looked behind for support from Ven, who just mouthed a half-apologetic "_Sorry_," and continued to push me on for Aqua from behind a rotund pillar.

"So...I'm _not_ getting a bouquet from you...?" Naminé muttered, seeming a little disappointed. Some people retained their positions behind Naminé, while some slithered past, but still lingered to watch what was going on.

"No! No, of course not, I'd love to give you a bouquet, but _these_ are for Aqua..." I explained, while the said girl walked up behind Naminé.

"What are for me?" she asked, her bluer-than-blue eyes traveling to the bouquet. They simultaneously lit up, but I still wasn't sure if she knew who I was. Naminé acknowledged Aqua, and moved aside to let her step out. However, she still looked quite disappointed that I was offering flowers to Aqua, to whom I have _no_ relations with whatsoever.

"Ven! I mean, _Roxas_? Ven? Who are you?" Aqua asked, seemingly confused at our alike complexion. I'd have to explain my way into this.

"Uh, I'm Ven," I lied, handing her the bouquet. "These are for you. Aqua...I, _Ventus_, would ask that you accompany me to senior prom this year," I announced, rather proudly for that fact, and confident in my rather _amateur_ acting skills, which did admittedly improve over the week. Aqua's eyes began glowing, radiating her tell-tale expression of glee. But there was a short falter, a glimpse of hesitation flickering through her ceramic eyes. I quickly took notice of it, and already knew how this was to end.

"Oh, Ven..." Aqua said, trailing a little farther than normal with her words. Behind her, a crowd was still beginning to form, and people, Naminé included, were already whipping out their sketchpads to sketch two models that seemed to be posing for their newest sketch.

I now had hesitations on saying my pre-coaches role play lines. But for Ven's sake, I pushed forward on the words still waiting to be spoken. "It's just..." I started, fulfilling the lines Ven prepared earlier,

"_I've never seen anyone so beautiful_." Actually...to tell Ven the truth...there was competition for Aqua in my book. No offense to Aqua, though. Her hair's...very blue.

"You're _so_ sweet," Aqua said, hooking her arms around my neck while I was still holding the flowers. I didn't necessarily feel comfortable, since I barely knew Aqua and she seemed a lot taller than I remembered, but if Ven were in my place—which he should've been—then maybe he would've blushed a little as well; or a lot.

Aqua pulled away, and a crowd of feminine giggles and praises followed shortly after. I figured I had it directly in the bag, and I was certainly going to get rewarded _heavily_ for this. All my previous musings about my failure and Aqua's rejection seemed unseeingly now. The Arts students all took out erasers to edit their scene to update on our current complexions. Everything was going fine, until Aqua muttered her last words of wisdom.

"I can't," Aqua flat out told me, her expression sinking a little.

"What?" an astounded voice leaps from beyond the bush, and I quickly try to hush it up. Aqua doesn't notice; she is too busy trying to consolidate "Ven's" deep dark sadness and the rejection he had just witnessed. She is also trying to silence the disapproving swears and comments thrown at her disappointed classmates.

"H-How come, Aqua? Y-You're my bestest bestest f-friend!" I sniffled, faking the fakest sob story I've ever pulled from thin air. Ven would've been proud of me.

"There's...someone else," she blatantly announced. I could see the visible guilt in her eyes, the one she wanted to try so hard to conceal; but underneath her presented exterior, I could tell she had genuine sympathy for me—I mean, Ven. _Never mind._

"Oh. Oh...okay. I'll...just...go then," I awkwardly said, trying my best not to appear to cry. Before I turned to "_sob_" in a bush, I handed her the flowers. "Here. These...were for you. Notice they're special 'aquamarine' colored flowers, called '_hyacinths_,' you know, because you're 'Aqua,' which does mean, _'Blue.'_ Just so you know."

"Ven..." Aqua calls. I leave her to think about her actions, wishing that maybe she'd change her mind and go with Ven. Honestly; he's the best person I'd have a girl go to for a prom date. The guy's honest, personable, smart, and good-looking—he's got it all. Me, I'm just a dried up, less humorous, _still_ handsome version. But, I guess that's all I've got to handle with.

When I checked Ven's hiding spot, I noticed his empty presence. I scanned the area, thinking he might've assimilated into the crowd or tried to woo Aqua's heart back, but I look to no avail. I want to call his name, but that'd be considered stupid, since I was Ven, and he was Roxas at the moment.

I passed a corridor to find few scattered teenagers and teachers and an open door just inviting me inside. It's dark, but it's eerily welcoming, like there is something hiding inside. From all I could hear, there are only hushed whispers, but they're loud enough to be heard with effort. I don't usually enjoy eavesdropping, but I made one exception, for the sake of the return of Ventus.

"I guess I don't have a prom date," a voice says. The voice is similar to mine, and I automatically assume that it's Ven. He's probably moping to himself, trying to consolidate his weary heart that was directly from watching a scene that could've been avoided altogether if _someone_ had just stuck up for their own rights.

"Yeah, but that whole getup _was _pretty funny, with you having Roxas parade around as you…" This other voice chuckles and her femine laugh is almost contagious. I happened to smile at that point just by listening.

I can't help but feel sorry for him, but also angry at his petty behavior. He was a senior, gosh darn it, and he needed to learn that for some things in the world, he needed to stand up for his own justice. He couldn't just take "no" for an answer, and "yes" to appease others. For someone a bit older and wiser than me, he needed to get taught old school from Roxas-sensei.

I inch closer, planning on going in to tell Ven that's it's okay to not to go to prom, but then, I hear this other hearty whisper reply to Ven's sullen voice. "If you want, I could go with you." She seems hopeful, almost willing to help out Ven through a hardship.

"You'd do that for me?" Ven says slowly, and I can't differentiate his fake pity voice from his real sorrow voice, even when I sound almost the same as him.

"Of course! You're one of my friends, Ven. I'd be happy to go. I'm sure Roxas will be happy that I'm helping you out," the person says. Vainly, I was already beginning to identify this person, as surprising as it may have been. At that moment, I knew that _next_ time, I needed to get my point across a lot faster, because time was a _pain in the ass_. I shouldn't have taken things so lightly; I could've avoided the impending ache I felt in my stomach that wasn't supposed to be there.

"Thanks, Naminé," Ven replies, and to my dismay, I hear hushed breathing, so quiet—his arms around her shoulders, her arms around his shoulders. My spirits sunk, my temper high, and now, I felt just about ready to go to my next class and out of the heat.

—**- - - -**

"Did you get your corsage yet?" Sora asks Kairi while I follow them down the hall to go to lunch. They are vaguely aware of my presence, but it didn't bother me as much.

Kairi shakes her head, looking down onto the purple notebook she's carrying. "No...I should've though, I know you would get light blue, right?"

"_Dark_ blue," Sora tells her, looking sort of surprised Kairi didn't know something he knew.

"Oh, yeah," Kairi retorts, crossing her arms.

"Hey, guys," I short handedly interrupted, walking on Kairi's left. She notices my getup, and looks ready to ask, but I quickly say, "_Don't_. What happens in the event that you cannot go because you're not allowed to?"

Sora perks up a bit. "It's held in the school gym, Roxas," he says. "How can you not sneak into a school gym?"

"Sora, junior and senior proms are being held at Destinium this year. President promised it, since we were the best class he's ever had at this school..._remember_?" I remind him. He finally realized this, looking so frustrated at me.

"D-Damn you, and your horde of geniuses!" Sora exclaims. "Why that stupid priceless dining hall? I totally can't afford that place!"

Kairi looks to me. "Hey...isn't that place where they host graduations, and teenage sweet sixteen's?"

I nod, informing Kairi: "It costs, about forty-nine thousand just to rent it to the junior class this year, and still a lot for one table. You know, they price for waterfront views."

"_Forty-nine thousand_ munny? When did I miss the budget meeting?" Sora yells, clutching his head like he was going into a panic attack.

"Since you're a _sophomore_, and you didn't need to pay as a junior..." I explain. Some people begin staring at us, but that's only because they don't even understand our very complicated relationship.

"Gosh, Kairi! Do you know how many heartless I'll have to defeat at the arcade to win that much munny? _Do you_?" Kairi shakes her head nervously, sensing Sora's tension. He frantically returned his frustration to me. His face is red with pretend anger I know he boiled up to shove in front of my face.

"How about you, Roxas?" Sora screams at me, grabbing hold of my shoulders and shaking me back and forth.

"Sora, get a real job," I shrug. "Besides, you're going next year, and you don't need to pay—"

"Yeah, but..." Sora says, letting go of my shoulders. "But...it won't be the same...You wouldn't be there." Sora stopped in the middle of the hallway, turning his subdued frustration to glare at the floor. Did...his voice just crack?

_I remembered my best friend's truest fear: the midnight, the twilight...the dark. He consoled to me that it made him feel weak and under pressure. This kid, he had too much light that he had to protect it. And he knew he couldn't do that when all around you is an eternal and lurking darkness ready to seep into every crack and crevice, including the ones hidden deep inside other people._

Kairi gave me a look, telling me that I had to fix things. Hastily, I tried convincing her there wasn't anything I could do, but she finally hissed at me to resolve this situation. I wearily agreed.

"Sora...Sooo-raaaaaa," I cooed to the little moping head of spikes. He didn't lift his head, but he did say to me: "You know, I did that whole Festival thing...just for you..."

My heart reminisced a little when I remembered his act of forgiveness, but obviously the most touched was Kairi. Teary-eyed and sniffly, she tugged on Sora's shirt sleeve and eventually coaxed him into a side hallway, away from the path we had escaped of ravaging scavengers ravenous for food. I tried looking him in the face, but he just turned away a little, suggesting that maybe, his feelings were a little broken. Kairi took her pink shoulder bag and stepped out of the hallway, leaving me and Sora alone. Before she left, I saw she was tearing quickly, and I felt incredibly guilt for being the reason why her little Sora was brought down.

"...You're like an older brother to me. I'm sorry I'm still such a _pansy_, but..." Sora said, his dark blue eyes usually so full of wonder and amusement now degraded to a much less amused tone.

"I understand, Sora, I do." I really did understand what he was feeling. I had known all along that he was my little brother, but sometimes, I needed to be reminded. That little cute face I'd use to play with, pinching his little cute cheeks—that was all somewhere, but I just had to dig them up a bit, let them touch the surface for a while.

"Listen, Sora. Next year, I promise...I'll ditch senior prom, and...I'll infiltrate your junior prom. That way, I get to see you _legally_ slow-dancing with Kairi like you've always _dreamed _about."

Sora quickly lifted his once-sorrowful gaze to look at me in surprise. "Y-You'd do that?" Sora whispered, obviously more stunned at my offer to realize he'd just admitted he had always wanted to dance with Kairi.

"Of course. Just...don't come to junior prom this year. It'll be a downer, anyways."

"But...what'll you do?" Sora said, concerned now on me.

I didn't try to think of what happened earlier with Ven and Naminé. "Sora, I'll be fine. It's only five hours or so; I can do this. But Sora, you have to promise me you have to be courageous. Don't hesitate to stand up and look intimidation in the eye."

He laid his hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll be more considerate, and I'll…I'll…I'll grow a set of balls! I'll be a _man_ by junior year!" He fist-pumped the air, and I felt Kairi peeking from around the corner and smiling contentedly.

I stood up and surveyed Sora right then. Maybe he will become more knowledgeable sooner or later. But I knew this boy was mysteriously wonderful. He was probably going to be instrumental in the advancement of both of our lives in ways I wasn't sure of yet. But this was the same baby brother Sora I knew and grew up with. And I hoped that would never change.

—**- - - -**

After a more lively lunch than normal with the discussion of next year's prom with everyone at our lunch table, I made my way to Literature, our last class. Through this whole division with Mr. Leonhart and my mother, he hasn't been taking it well. Just thinking about it, he would have a minute to himself during class where he'd stop and stare into the distance, stuck replaying things in his head. No doubt, he was jealous of Mr. Head President, enough to probably murder him, but hey, I'm not calling the shots.

"Hello, Roxas," a cheery voice sneaks up from behind me and latches onto my shoulders with her hands. This time, all I smell are watermelons. "Oh, and about prom—" I don't hear the rest of her sentence because I furiously stuff noise-cancelling isolation music ear buds into my ears and let my shuffled iPod talk to me instead. I roughly take my seat opposite of the person I was ignoring, and she seems a bit stunned, but sits down anyways, in a seat in the middle of the classroom. Even from where I was sitting, it was apparent to see that her crystalline blue eyes no longer held a nearly stain-glass complexion anymore.

"Good afternoon, everyone," Mr. Leonhart introduces. I have to pull out the earplugs when I hear his sentence. He never welcomes the class. _Never_. Has the breakup really affected Leonhart that bad?

"Good...afternoon?" The handful of those that respond are also in as much shock as I, and I don't know what else could possibly be changed.

There were more changes to this class. Leonhart let me doze off in class while we were reading one of those classics we were reading this period. I didn't know whether it was because he didn't notice, or maybe because whenever he looked at me, he saw Tifa in me (which was kind of weird), but he still didn't notice when a precisely folded piece of paper landed on the floor next to me, addressed to a "_Roxas_."

I didn't look at the sender, but instead picked up the paper and unfolded it under my desk. On the precisely neat blue lines of the notebook paper, several words were huddled on the paper. "I just wanted to talk about prom again. Ven asked me already, is that alright?"

There were a thousand words I could've written on that paper, ranging from letter A to Z, but I had absolutely no right to say any of them. It was my fault for not acting quickly enough, being such a pushover, and for coming up with such a lame idea. Writing "_Will you go to prom with me?" _on the engraving of new colored pencils was a stupid idea.

In the end, I only had time to write "Sure. I'm fine with it." A _lie_. A consciously fabricated line that could only describe every antilogy of what I actually thought. No, I wasn't okay with it. Yes, Ven is such a woman-stealer. But it's my entire fault anyways.

I first made sure Mr. Leonhart wasn't paying much attention to me, and luckily, he wasn't. He was too busy scratching down onto the board selected lines from the piece of literature we were reading. I passed that folded letter over to Naminé, throwing it over two other desks, making sure it landed on the exact middle desk Naminé took notes on every day. She looked at it doubtfully, hesitating on opening the note. I kept watching, observing why she was troubled and how come she wasn't doing anything. Why _wasn't_ she doing anything?

Hastily, Naminé snatched the piece of paper and shoved it in her pocket. She still hadn't done anything about reading it, and I was a hundred-percent sure she could not see through paper. Why didn't she open it? I was beginning to overreact. This wasn't like her at all, and it wasn't like me to begin to panic so soon.

I couldn't wrestle my attention towards the board or even bother taking notes. Other people were beginning to notice my nearly jittery body almost jumping out of my seat, but I just waved as if to sadistically say, "_I'm fine, I'm fine_," liked I'd lied before. _When was class over, when was class over..._

The bell rang just before I was about to spring out of my seat. I firmly approached Naminé, but it seemed like she was coming towards me as well.

"What do you want to ask me, Roxas?" I couldn't tell if she was mad or sincerely asking, but I faced it head on.

"Why didn't you open my letter?" I asked, my tone resembling that of a paranoid father. She didn't expect me to ask a question like that, because judging by her troubled expression, she seemed a little on edge again.

Her expression didn't falter though. She seemed a little more confident when she looked me in the eye and said, "I already knew what you'd say…that you would lie to me. You're _not_ okay with it."

"W-What?" I responded. How'd she know once again? It was another mind-reading session that didn't exactly unnerve me as much as it intrigued me. No, her "powers" probably weren't other-worldly, but much more as unexplainable.

"Tell me, Roxas." She leaned closer towards me, a little closer than I had expected, and I despite my instincts, I stayed glued to the floor, leaning onto the desk behind me as she leaned in a little closer. "You have something to say about it."

I looked at her solid expression and I knew she wasn't going to move until she got an answer out of me. I tried to give her a look that spelled that I had nothing to say, but I didn't expect her clutch to be so hard on me. "_Speak up_," she cooed, and I knew that she could ultimately read my mind, or at least read my expressions.

Before I could sputter out any words, a familiar head popped up at the door. I didn't think I would be this happy to see someone that I hated on a daily basis.

"May I borrow Roxas for a second, Sir Leonhart?" Mr. Strife said, his head peeking through the doorway, still unaware that the person being called for was being held against his whim. Naminé immediately turned around, and released me from her sudden hold. I released a held-in breath that couldn't escape my mouth only because I was nervous that Naminé would notice me hesitate. I was actually intimidated that she knew something that I hadn't even tried to reveal. Even in the short time I spent with her, she was able to read me like a book.

"Here he is, Mr. Strife," Naminé said, motioning for me to come closer and act as if nothing happened, which I could pretend. I gave a slight wave, and he gave a fleeting smile in return.

"Thank you, Naminé," he answered to her, and she took this as cue to leave the room out the second door. That left just me, Cloud, and—

"I'll be leaving now," a stuttering voice said from the front of the room. Mr. Leonhart continued to gather his belongings, as this was the last class, and stiffly walked past Cloud on his right. They did not make any eye contact, but I could tell that Mr. Leonhart really felt undermined by his head President now. Remember that cheery disposition he had when he walked in and greeted the entire class? Every feeling of that was now dissipated once Mr. Strife walked into the room, ready to cause conflict to Mr. Leonhart just by standing there.

Once the room was empty and I could finally breathe regularly, Mr. Strife walked towards me, his regular suit-and-tie attire making ruffling noises as he walked towards me. I made no notion to approach him or even formally acknowledge him any further, until he was face to face with me.

I glanced towards the clock hanging over the classroom entrance, and noticed that class had let out for nearly eight minutes. Ignoring Cloud standing over me for a second, I grabbed my bag and slung it over my shoulder. Cloud took this opportunity to make…"_small talk_."

"So, how's the studying going?" he asked. I had to stop walking out of the classroom to hold in my laugh and him. He picked this occasion to talk to me? _Now?_ After nearly seventeen years?

"Uhm—fine, I guess. Nice school you have…" I replied, almost unsure of what I was going to do now.

"Yeah, I know," he agreed, nodding as if this school brought back fond memories. I rolled my eyes and continued out the door.

When I was walking down the corridor that led straight outside, a probing voice interrupted my steady flow of walking. "You know most of the teachers and staff here are my good friends and colleagues. In fact, your engineering teacher Mr. Fair—"

"—Was your best friend and SOLDIER co-worker. I know," I said, my irritation apparent in my tone.

"We weren't 'co-workers,' we were 'colleagues.' Zack was the one that helped me become first-class." Mr. Strife was feeling so caught up in the moment, he didn't even notice that he had rested his arm around my shoulder, like we were buddies or something.

"Yeah, I'll have to ask Mr. Fair about that," I muttered, and Cloud finally heard my words loud and clear. He removed his arm from its place from around my shoulder and looked at me—_dare I say it_—the way a father looks at his son.

"You don't have to—_son_," Mr. Strife said calmly and normally said. His arm somehow found its way back to rest on my shoulder.

"Why are you talking to me?" I asked, more annoyed and vexed at him then I've ever been in my life. The irony was that I have been begging for this kind of attention since I was a little kid, and now that I have grown into a young adult, it no longer seems necessary. Or at least, that's what I thought.

Cloud looked a little flustered; his eyebrows were tightly knit in confusion to find the answer to my question like it needed assessment. "Actually, I wanted to ask if you needed a ride to my house. This weekend. For dinner. Tifa told you, right?" He looked concerned now, but it didn't get past the fact that he forgot that _we're neighbors._

I pretended to think hard and long, even pointing a finger to my lips. "No, thanks, Cloud," I finally said, removing his arm from my shoulder. "_I'll be happy to walk_."

—- - - -

* * *

**A/N**: After an overdue update, I want to say sorry again. I've been caught up in a lot and I finally got around to staying up to post this. At 2 AM, I have a couple things to ask:

**How are the chapter lengths**? _Longer, right? _Yeah. I'm pretty proud of that. Oh, and if you have trouble reading the paragraphs here on fanfiction, I can help out if you check my profile, the link is there and it changes the width and such O:

Have any of you watched **AnoHana?** I just finished it, and I really really loved it. Top 10 Animes of mine now…well anyways the two pieces of theme music were a really big inspiration, and the whole anime is totally sweet. **_So is Sora's voice actor as the main character._**

The updates won't be as spacey anymore; I'm really working on the eleventh chapter. I hope I'll get it up before I go to Vegas (;

Thanks for reading! ~ Please Review if you may!


	11. Rejection of Fate: Part III

**In the past, there are things that I've remembered…**

_"I love the cherry blossoms they have there on sale at the market."  
"Oh really? My mom was given one yesterday."_

_"Can I draw you, Roxas?"_

_"I want us to have dinner together. As a family."_

_"Naminé, what're you doing?"  
"Looking at colored pencils; I really need new ones."_

_"If you want, I could go with you."  
"Thanks, Naminé."_

_"Tell me, Roxas. You're _not_ okay with it."_

_"I'll be happy to walk."_

**A Scattered Memory  
**_Chapter __**11**__ – __**Rejection of Fate: Part III**_

My ceiling's color was gray.

I don't know exactly why it was that color, and why it was actually the kind of gray that leaned towards black, but I did know that it was a little odd having an all-white room's ceiling be the color's counterpart—an uninspiring and _apathetic _gray.

I stared at that same ceiling for nearly an hour before I even thought to think about that past week, much less my day. It was now Friday, and after I was keeping to myself for nearly three days, I had so many things swimming in the recesses of my mind that I didn't even pay attention to the dwindling sunlight that disappeared through the curtains. The work from school we were sent home with that day would have to wait, since I had an important call to make.

After two rings, a scratchy voice came onto the receiver. "_Hello and thank you for making a call to _the_ sexiest man alive—Mr. Axel if you will. I do car business, news business, and serious business. I'm not here at the moment, so just please dial—"_

I hung up the phone and put it back on the table. No luck asking a senior for help. I really thought that he could actually help me in the business of _girls_, but I didn't know if that was part of his credentials. I breathed a huge sigh, one that seemed to take out all the pressure I'd had today. I kicked off the black flat shoes I still had on from this afternoon and took off my sweater and shirt. We didn't have any heat during the winter, but it wasn't that cold yet, so I decided that maybe it would be best if I would sleep in just my shorts. Sometimes, the heat would help me clear things out of my head.

Tifa was struggling as it is, so I didn't bother complaining about unnecessary heating and air conditioning. She's told me to not turn on the air conditioning during summer months, or the heater when it was deathly cold. We did have a scanty amount of blankets and pillows, but sometimes, they weren't enough. When I was younger, they were all the things I hugged—blankets and my mattress. Sadly, Tifa never had a chance to come home to wish me goodnight because she'd have to work late nights all the time. The foster care advocate would often visit every year to check up on us, and I'd always help Tifa convince them to deem us a healthy, normal family.

No matter what, when I could see her, I was happy to spend time with her. She would be able to advocate good advice, and she'd tell me about the times she used to raise animals on her farm back home. I didn't like to ask about that, since it'd eventually lead to a conversation of _Cloud_, but I found myself getting to know my foster-care mother even more. I didn't ask if she knew my original mother, because I didn't need to know about her. I had Tifa, after all.

She wasn't home tonight, but she'd be arriving in less than an hour. She hardly slept the entire day, so I had to make myself breakfast and lunch. I did, however, lay out a meal for Tifa to chew on while I was gone, though.

When I finally awoke to the incessant chirping of another bird outside my window, it was the last Saturday before prom. Everyone had their dates, and I was still left here with an unopened package addressed to a _Roxas Lockhart Strife_ sitting on a chair in the corner of my room.

I never mentioned this to anyone, but I already had ordered a special gift for Naminé that I knew she would love. The day after Naminé and I stopped by the store, I realized that she that really did want to have something from there, so I decided that she needed them. If only that bandaged guy did not apprehend me back when we tried to go and buy it. It still pretty shocked me, and it took me awhile to even walk back into the store.

The day I went to buy her gift, the store was filled with the scent of wood, pastels, and paint. It felt like I was walking into a house I'd been to before, but when I was a much younger kid. My senses took over, and I spent a good five minutes just roaming the store like a lost kitten.

Meanwhile, other people would look at me and nod off in a different direction, but a store worker in a red apron eventually mustered enough courage to walk up to me. I remembered I was casually picking up a bucket of paint titled, "_Consternation's Treasure_," thinking, _what the hell is consternation?_

"Good day, sir. Can I help you?" a deep and welcoming voice greets me. I put down the can where it was, and replied to him with a smile.

"You look like you need a little help. Like that color?" the man said. He had a stern face, and he looked wise enough to be a father, or just a really trustworthy guy. His graying hair was up in a sort of Japanese-style bun, which told me that he probably had a lot of class in owning this store. Though the strange thing was, it didn't seem that he was that old of a guy. No wrinkles or kink in the way he walked…I guessed personal preferences are a must these days.

I looked back at the can lounging on a shelf. The can's covering had a defining gray color that could only be achieved after many years of age and wear. "It…reminds me of the color of my ceiling."

"Ah…" he nodded slightly, bobbing his chin. "Tifa's kid, aren't you?"

"Wh-What—"

He put up his hand, and I stopped in protest. He explained, "I am an…unspoken-about _family _member of your mother's. She'll know who I am. We go back a _long _way."

"So…you know my mother?" I asked, reluctant if it was alright to even ask a personal question. "And…_my dad?_"

The man looked reassuringly at me, almost warning me that I shouldn't mention this guy to anyone unless I wanted a long history lesson about kept secrets of the past. "Of course, I do."

It was real awkward at this point. I had no idea what this guy had in relation to anything, and I did not, _repeat_, did not need to know whatever my dad and his girlfriend were hiding from me by not telling me of an old friend in town. He gave a happy smirk, and continued on his merry job. "Now, about that paint…"

"Oh, I'm not looking for any paint actually," I said, unwilling and apologizing for disturbing this man's working process. He laughed, and it even sounded like one of those wise men's laughs, but a lot deeper than I'd thought. I think I was imagining it, but it did sound _a lot _like my dad's voice—distinctly deeper, was all. It was funny, considering that I think this man was a lot younger than what he wanted people think. In truth, he seemed about Tifa and Cloud's age, which wasn't even that old. But something in his eyes told me that he wasn't doing this to sound a lot older and a lot more mature; it was probably because he didn't want to be located. He wanted to start all over and find new beginnings, and what better place than Twilight Town Cliffs?

I didn't pursue any information after that. "Well, listen," the gray haired man said. "If ever you need help, you know I'm the guy you'll need." He began to walk away before I even remembered why I was there in the first place.

"Oh—wait! Uhm, I do need help with _something_." I said, very slowly and actually a little hesitant on asking a _family friend _on a way to propose to a girl I wanted to take to prom. The man turned around, and at this point I should've asked what his name was, but something stopped me from doing so. He didn't even have a name tag, so I guess he didn't want others to know him personally.

"And what is that?" he asked, and I groaned a little, making the decision to tell him all about my dilemma. I somehow rushed my words, and once I started hearing about what I really did, it seemed even worse than what I'd think it would be. Thankfully, this guy must've made his own fair share of mistakes, seeing as he already looked like he had a solution.

"Well, the pencils you mentioned aren't on sale: _The Third Day_, right?" the man asked.

"Oh, well I forgot about the possibility of ordering those! Ah, how much would it be?" I said, already pulling out my wallet, but I'll have you know, the highest amount I could pay was…

"5,000 munny," the man said regretfully, almost as if he felt bad about the price. After looking through all my pockets and all the little compartments I could find in my sweater and pants, I still couldn't find anything that would satisfy a thousand more munny, seeing as I had only about 4,000 munny. Ignorantly, I wasn't willing to buy anything else for Naminé but what I knew she would thoroughly love.

But apparently, I didn't think I could've bought those pencils that day. So I told him, "I'm sorry; I'm short on about a thousand, and I don't think I'll get anything else. _I'm sorry_."

"You're sorry? My boy, it's quite okay…" the man explained. I shook my head furiously, somewhat mad at myself for not adequately being prepared. The thing was, I thought that this was my only chance to buy anything for her. After the shame I currently had about not having enough courage to even ask out a friend to prom, I thought that the only way she would've accepted me and know how I really felt about here was if she would know what kind and generous act I did for her.

To be frank, I think that I really did have _something_ for Naminé. She had a personality that helped me stop and think about my own personal wellbeing, and she didn't have too many flaws. Even if she did have something to resolve, she knew how to work out her problems, which was something I really liked about her. Naminé was a special girl; she wasn't much like Kairi or Xion, much less anyone else that I knew. She was different to me, and I think I found joy in the fact that it was only for me.

"It's just…" I began to explain. "This is different. I don't think there's _anything _more important right now."

"I think I understand from that interesting story you took the time to tell me," he said heartily. This was the first conversation I think I ever had with an adult _besides _Mr. Fair that really meant something to me. He was the first to truly understand what I was going through, and it was odd, because I hardly knew who he was. No longer was he just another art-store employee, but much more of an ally.

"…And that's why I've decided to give—"

"Stop," I said. "You shouldn't spoil me. This is meant for me to deal with. I'm sorry."

He laughed. "I don't know if you're going to be able to refuse this offer." He walked past me, and I willingly followed, knowing that this wasn't a bad decision at all. He lead me into this back door that I didn't really notice from before, right next to a bathroom, but the door was marked "_Employees Only," _so I was reluctant to even walk through. But once the man opened the door, I realized what he was showing me. _A big, stainless steel silver machine._

"Uh— "I began to protest, thinking that this had nothing to do with any of my problems right now. The man probably got the wrong room.

"I've been waiting to use this machine for a really long time. Thank goodness someone can seem to use it," the man mumbled, but I didn't know if he was now talking to me or just himself. Now would've been an appropriate time to leave.

"What…exactly is that?" I slowly asked, a little wary of whether it was even a machine that was kind to humans. I feared that maybe I was left somewhere I shouldn't be, and deliberately began to step backwards.

I was expecting something much more _gruesome _and _horrid _than "An engraving machine. The laser was just recently installed and I've been meaning to use it someday."

"Oh, well, I don't think I'll need a—"

I was then hit with this sudden epiphany that I don't even think should've came to me. It just did, and it was actually a much better idea than I thought. After all the public stunts pulled in the previous weeks about getting prom invites, I found this the _least _surprising, but in my opinion, _it was the most meaningful_.

The next thing I know, I paid the guy all my money to buy the pencils (they were actually a high class brand, which is why they cost about as much money as a can of paint). He said that it would normally cost a fortune to engrave a word on one of them, much less _seven _words. Apparently, he was so eager to use the engraving machine that he gave me a pretty good discount, but I still walked out penniless. Before I strolled out of the store, finally relieved that I might actually be able to give a gift to Naminé, I said goodbye to the man, whom I was starting to actually like. "I'll see you around, Mister—"

"_Sephiroth_. Mr. Sephiroth." The man told me. I decided to make mental note to tell my mom that I saw a friend of hers, but then something stopped me. The way he told me his name, it was like he hoped I wouldn't tell anybody. I could see it in his eyes; he probably didn't want either Tifa or Cloud to find out about a "friend" of theirs; I didn't even think they liked him very much. But, that was all just an afterthought.

—- - - -

That was Wednesday, the day after Naminé and I left campus to go to the store. It was now the end of Friday, and I was expecting my mother to arrive any second so we could go together to Cloud's house. I hadn't forgotten about the appointment; for some reason I couldn't casually "forget" to go, so I was technically forced to go. I already had my dumbass slacks on, and I didn't even have the heart to take them off. I had on a dress shirt, but I didn't have enough courtesy to tuck it in. I still looked pretty handsome, though, to be honest.

While waiting, I decided to look through my window to see if Cloud was preparing for us. I couldn't see their window, so I just gave up. I did see that he was home, and I could've sworn he was eagerly waiting for us in his living area. I gave up trying to purposely care about tonight, and just stared at the package that I still hadn't opened. I already knew what it was, and I knew this family friend of Cloud and Tifa's would be the only one with enough guts to address me as "_Roxas Lockhart Strife_."

For the first time since the package arrived yesterday, I made the first move to even open it. I was expecting the same white pencils I had seen on Tuesday with markings on the sides of some of them, and that was _it_; but I noticed they looked better than I'd hoped. No longer with they any ordinary set of colored pencils, I'm sure of that. They still had the same white wood texture, but they looked like they were even brighter than the ones I saw in the store. As expected, the carvings on the sides of seven special pencils were exactly like I wanted it to be. They could only be seen if you looked closely, and if you were the one using it, you'd feel the small indentions they made.

Before I could even read over the small indentations, the doorbell rung, so I set the pencils behind my pillow and put on the best pair of shoes I could find.

—**- - - -**

"…Hello, Roxas..."

"Hi. Cloud."

There was no other awkward silence like this.

He began to drive his fingers through his already slicked and orderly hair. "I came to pick you up," he said, dangling his shiny convertible keys in front of me.

"I told you I was walking," I said, trying to sound as cold hearted as I could.

"…Courtesy…?" he replied, and I just smirked at him like it was a really bad joke.

"That's awesome, Cloud," I said sarcastically, and I shoved my way past him, making sure that the door was locked before I forced myself to go on across the street.

Mr. Strife looked sternly at me, but I was already trudging off in the opposite direction. I could still feel his gaze stuck on mine, and it just about burned my back with his glare. "You know, I'd really appreciate it if you didn't call me _Cloud_—"

"—then what do you want me to call you? _Dad?_" In a rage I almost walked right up to the guy to yell at him, but I kept myself planted firmly at least ten feet from him. "You know, I wish I could, but…you just _aren't _my dad, you know…" I said strongly.

"That's the thing, Roxas," Mr. Strife said strictly. "I _am _your father—"

"Oh, so _now_ I'm your son! _Now _I am. After seventeen bloody years of being without a father, you decide to come up and tell me this? Well, if I so generally recall, a _father _is someone that would spend time with me, that I was genetically related with, _and _someone I could trust." I was already riled up in fury, and I didn't think that I could actually keep this all in.

"Roxas…" he started coaxing me, approaching me calmly and gradually. "I know I haven't been there for you, but there's a _reason _for this—"

"Like hell there is. You know that the reason _doesn't _matter; you still left me, and you placed an even heavier burden on Tifa as well." This seemed to shock Cloud that those words came from my mouth, but I actual meant all of them. Every single word was true to me, and those were all that I thought in my life. Cloud also knew this was true, but a part of him didn't want to accept it, since he let me walk away from him, leaving him on the front step of our house.

—**- - - -**

This actually wasn't how I expected to walk into Cloud's house.

It took a good five minutes to turn the block and arrive at his house. Apparently, he left his door open, and I waltzed right in. A grand spiraling staircase was the first thing I saw, the wood all new and freshly polished. To my left, and down the hall, a rather grand-looking dining room was lit with fine white light from a chandelier on top. To my right was a closed-off office, complete with a large computer screen hanging on the wall and a desk with the same spinning chairs from Naminé's room that I _adored_.

Out of all the things I thought of, the first that came to me was that one time that I went to Naminé's house and all I did was spin on her chairs and eat chocolate hazelnut spread. That was the first time I knew she actually loved art, and ever since that day I prioritized everything with her and art together. There was a connection that day that I still haven't forgotten.

Suddenly, this flying bob of cotton drops in front of me, and I realize that something just fell from above me. I look up to see on the second floor a little boy with wavy brown hair looking down at me. I smile at him, and bend down to pick up the little plushy doll up. Before I decided to give it back, I notice the boy is making no movements; I half expected him to rush up and take it from me.

I hold the toy up for the boy to see. "This is yours, right?" I said in the sappiest voice I could've pulled.

The boy just kept staring at me with these deep green eyes that were only filled with such childish innocence. He still didn't move, so I took the liberty of carrying the thing myself up the stairs. It was one I had too when I was little; a big red nose that was pretty fun to play with, but not as much fun as the little antenna thingy on the top of its head. This one even had the same markings on the red puff ball that I had made when I was little and playing with the little thing.

"Are you mommy's friend?" the little boy suddenly said. I didn't know how to respond, since I wasn't sure _who _his mom was, so I just said, "I'm daddy's friend." To that, the little boy mouthed a big "Oh."

I reached the top of the stairs, and found that the boy was a lot shorter than me. As an instinct, I crouched down to his height and looked him in the eye. He seemed about ready to run, but he probably wanted his little moogle back. That was what the little toys were called, and this one looked like his favorite, to be honest.

I held the toy out. "Here, it's yours," I said.

The boy looked at it, but I was right by saying that he wanted to run. In fact, he ran into the nearest room, and by the looks of it, it was probably his sister's room. "Wait—" I tried to call after him, but I guess that calling to him wouldn't budge him from his hiding spot. I stood up to my regular height and followed his little trail into the girl's room. It was filled with a bunch of blue things—blue bed, wallpaper, and it was themed different complimenting shades of blue.

"Hi. I just wanted to give this back to you," I said, calmly so as not to scare the little kid. I think he was eight or ten years old, and he had the cutest complexion I'd ever seen on a little boy. I was surprised that I'd scared him, but I was still trying to give the moogle back.

Before I could hand it to him, I distinctly heard the sound of a door opening, and another little girl's voice shout. "Denzel? Where are you?"

Behind me, I saw the little boy appear from under the bed and run back downstairs. I swear, kids those days were able to run miles tirelessly. It took me longer now to trudge down the stairs, but I didn't have to go all the way down to see my mother talking with the little boy Denzel, and another little girl I had yet to familiarize myself with. My mother saw me first, and I guessed she was wondering what I was doing here so early. I had hardly any idea either.

"Hi, Tifa…" I greeted nonchalantly. Tifa didn't look mad or anything, more of like surprised that I was here. Instead of the usual uniform she wore to and from her job, she was wearing a casual evening dress that looked fit her well, and she had her hair tied back a little.

"Roxas…why are you here so early?" she asked.

I slowly began descending the steps, all while showing Tifa the moogle I was still holding. "I think this is…Denzel's…"

"Gimme!" the little boy suddenly said, running towards me to get his little toy back. He was full of energy, because I toyed with him a little, waving his moogle a little higher above his head, but he still persisted. So I handed it back, and he marched back to Tifa.

Tifa pressed her hands against her dress. "Well, I should get dinner ready."

"Yeah, I'll just wait—"

"—Roxas?" a distinctive voice calls me, and I recognize it almost immediately.

"Yeah—?" I instantly replied to the voice from the top of the stairs.

The person that I'd been attempting to avoid that week had finally gotten a chance to get me to talk to her. After that incident back on Tuesday, I didn't really want to associate with her until, say, prom night. Regrettably, I found myself thinking a lot about her and not being able to stay mad at her. She had on a casual blue plaid over a white tank-top and jeans under. It was actually a lot more appropriate than my slacks, but I ignored the fact that I was overdressed.

"You look spiffy today," Naminé casually said as she stepped down the stairs. She was now next to me, and she even lifted her elbow out for me to hook mine with.

In fact, I did hook it with hers, and I found it not at all embarrassing. At all. _Seriously_.

"...Thank you," I replied. I'd just missed her voice so much; I even forgot to ask what she was doing here. Unless she's Cloud's daughter, and we're miraculously half-siblings, then I guess I don't need to ask.

"Hello, Naminé," Tifa greeted. "It's so nice that you're joining us."

"Oh, of course, Aunt Tifa," Naminé said, smiling to adress my mother.

Tifa, Naminé, Denzel, Denzel's little friend, and I all strolled into the kitchen, where a full-course meal was laid out. I didn't even know it was there when I came in.

"Tifa! Tifa!" the little girl next to Denzel said. "Did you make all this food?"

Tifa chuckled, and she reached down to pat the little girl's head. "Yes, I did. Thank you for noticing, Marlene."

Marlene laughed, and she hurried over to a seat on the other side of the table. "Denzeru! Sit next to me!"

"These are your...siblings?" I asked Naminé. She was smiling at the two fighting over what to eat first. She turned to me and grinned.

"...I guess you can say that," she replied ominously.

"Doesn't that mean...you're—?"

I can hear the front door being unlocked, so I bring Naminé over so we can open it. Once we do, it's none other than Mr. Owner of the House: Cloud Strife and he's looking not as flustered as he was before. I sneer at him, but he doesn't notice. "Hi, Roxas." He says. "You're early."

"I know I am," I replied.

Naminé unhooked my arm from hers, and I watched as she went up to greet Mr. Strife. She embraced him, wrapping her loose arms around him, and he did so to, while I watched. After all these years of not having a father, it made my blood boil at the thought of my own _half-sister_ getting an emotion from him so easily.

It was now oddly safe to say that Naminé was indeed my half-sister for the timebeing.

—**- - - -**

"Pass the beanies, _Rocks_."

"Now, what did I say, Marlene? My name is _Roxas_."

"I prefer _Rocks_," Marlene continued. "May I please have them, _Rocks_?"

I sighed in defeat and handed them over to her, her cheeky little grin mocking me. Another half-sister of mine, Marlene was the adopted daughter of Cloud, but that's all Tifa would tell me. She had big brown eyes that seemed to laugh along with her smile and she always wore a pink ribbon in her hair, the recurring object always present in the family photos lining the halls. She was really close to Denzel, the little boy I met when I walked in, and she'd oftentimes be caring towards him than a usual brother and sister.

"May I have the soup, _Roxas_?" another voice asks me. Naminé is sitting to my right, so I pass her the soup from the other side of the table. Meanwhile, I was cursing myself over and over about the fact that I stuffed the colored pencils under my pillow at the absolute worst time. No matter how mad I was at Naminé or Ven, I couldn't hold a grudge against them for too long. They didn't deserve it.

"So…kids…" Tifa says, dabbing her table napkin around her lips. "I heard there's a prom coming up. Roxas, are you going with someone?"

I took my own table napkin and did the same thing. "No."

I couldn't help make it sound like I was mad. I did want to take it back though, because Naminé quickly caught on to what I was hinting. I felt her foot tap on my shoe, but I didn't even flinch or glance towards her. I wasn't really mad at her, but I wasn't showing that. I could just feel Naminé's face sinking in disappointment.

Tifa caught nothing from the other side of the table. Cloud just continued eating monotonously, his face looking like he couldn't wait for me to leave. Marlene and Denzel, of course, did not even notice the change in atmosphere that I emitted from this side of the table.

"Naminé, what about you?" Tifa persisted. I drank more of my soup irritably, making that annoying slurp noise that some would consider rude and annoying. Naminé wasn't talking; her lips not moving at all, but her eyes deeply fastened to her plate in front of her. I didn't think she would continue her silence that long, but Tifa had been waiting eagerly for so long that she just gave up and continued eating a piece of her steak.

As the dinner went on, I kept clenching my fist whenever Cloud would announce something that had to do with "family matters." He told of his oldest son coming back from his trip to Cloud's home country, and he sounded like he was eager to listen to news from his home town. I sat there soaking it all in, the entire family's surprised and excited emotions, especially Marlene and Denzel, whom I now referred to the twins.

"Yay, brother's coming home!" both of them exclaimed. Naminé continued eating her soup, and I noticed that she had no emotion whatsoever to this festivity. She kind of reminded me of another spectator to a dinner or a meager attendee to a party no one really wanted her at. She just sat lifeless in the chair next to mine, and I was doing nothing about it. I thought I promised we would be really good friends. How I could I be a good friend when she was sitting there quietly with me right next to her?

"Naminé, about the other day…" _Worst topic to talk about right now, Roxas._

"Can we talk about it, Roxas? Please?" she whispered, so no one else at the table would listen. The twins that sat in front of us on the two chairs in front of us just bounced around, periodically remembering the feast they were raving about earlier. Cloud and Tifa, seated on opposite sides of the head of the table just laughed about some joke they made earlier.

"Later, after dinner. I have to ask you something…" I said, finally reassured I could ask her what was on my mind. Now, I was looking forward to after dinner when everyone would be too tired to do much but chat.

But just as I was finishing up the beans I put aside on my plate, I watched as Tifa was once again dabbing her lips. Funny, after she asked me before, I now took that as an omen; and it was a good thing I prepared myself for some long conversation all about me.

"Roxas…" she said. "Can we all tell you something?" She looked at me, her eyes even begging that I comply with whatever anyone had to say. I guessed it was something like a group discussion on my behavior or something. Even the twins piped down and listened, smirks fastened on their faces. Then, they quickly got up and ran out of the room and went down the hall to some other room.

"Uh, sure," I replied, putting my napkin atop my plate and I listened eagerly for the next person to speak up.

Tifa was the first that stood dauntlessly at the head of the table. She walked over to the other side of table where Cloud was, placing her hands on his shoulder. "You…already know Cloud is your father…"

I nodded, stating the obvious. After that whole episode before, I had to admit that I was related to him and all, but it's not like they were dumping a whole bunch of crap on me again.

"…And Marlene and Denzel are adopted into the family, you guessed?" she continued. I could see her grip on Cloud tightening, and for once, I feared that my mother might actually strangle him at one point. My eyes followed her path, and I just nodded again.

Tifa looked questioningly at me. "You know Naminé isn't your sister, right?"

"Uh, I kinda guessed," I replied slowly.

Tifa smiled. "Good, this'll make my job a bit easier."

She walked back to where she was sitting and sat back down, but she didn't take her gaze off me. "For seventeen years, I've told you all about how I had to adopt you myself, and how I made that decision, correct?"

For a second, I gave Naminé a reluctant look, but she looked like she didn't know what was going on either. Tifa sighed, and she said to me, "I'm not your adopted mother. _I am _your mother."

I kept on staring at her, looking into her expression to even see if she was joking, but there was no twitch evident. I gazed onto the plate in front of me again, but I guess this was my terms on acceptance.

"So…that lady that came by almost every month…she is…?"

"A very good friend of the family, Cissnei, promised to play that role so you wouldn't think I was your true mom," she explained.

It didn't make much sense to me, but I kept asking questions. "Why would you _have _to do that? Couldn't you have told me I was your true son?"

Tifa leaned back into her chair, propping her head on the side of her left hand, but she still didn't move her gaze. "Do you see Denzel and Marlene? They're some of the _happiest _kids I have ever met. They know of their past, but they need a mother—someone to come to them all the time. They need to grow up to be fine young adults—"

"But, wait—" I interrupted. "What about me? I think I needed a parent a lot too, since no one was home most of the time, and you didn't come home until late—"

"I told you, Roxas. These kids need a mother, and for now, I am their mother."

"So, when you were out all those times…it was because you were with another _family?_"

Tifa now stared at the tablecloth, her hands together and she sat quietly. Things didn't match up. So, I had to grow up without my two parents because these other kids needed someone more than me? What about the times I had to stay all alone at home, with only a blanket coddling my small body, thinking when I'd get a chance to be with my mom? Did those seem incomparable to someone else? I didn't like sounding like I was jealous, but when I found out about this, I felt worthless, like I didn't mean anything to my parents.

At this point, I already shoved the seat behind me, and I had stamped the palms of my hands on the table. Cloud had even stopped eating his precious steak for a while to hear what I was so fed up about. "That isn't fair, Tifa! I had _no one_ to stay at home with me! These kids have Cloud, and I think that's enough if they steal one parent from me. But why can't I have someone to rely on? Is it just so _hard_?"

"Please, calm down, Roxas," Naminé tried soothing me, placing her hand firmly on top of mine. "Do it for me, Roxas."

I didn't mean to, but I pulled my hand away from hers. "Mom, why couldn't _you _stay home with me? Am I just _that much _of a pain to be with? Trust me, I'll try to change. It's just—"

"Roxas, I need to stay with Marlene and Denzel for a little while longer. Until they can understand what's going on—"

"So I'm not a priority, aren't I?" I asked. My face lifted to meet her gaze, a tear I never thought I'd see threatening to drop. When it did, I knew what she said, without even saying a word.

I had had enough of a fake family that I didn't want to see. I wasn't on very good terms with Naminé, but it seemed that she was the only one in the entire house that I hadn't just met today that seemed reliable. Cloud sighed and got up, sensing that there was probably something reckless that I was about to do; and his senses were right. In some kind of insentient state, I turned my back on everyone at the table and tried to make my way to the front door. I hoped that I wouldn't encounter Marlene or Denzel; I didn't want to see me like this. What would they think—their new brother walking out of the dinner table?

I passed countless pictures that I hadn't even noticed before. Tifa was among those pictured, and I could see through the corner of my eye my mom in a dress similar to the one she wore today, her arm around the shoulder of a very younger-looking Cloud Strife. I strode past it, and I didn't let my eyes pass over the rest of the family pictures, since I wasn't even on any of them.

At first, I didn't hear footsteps behind me, or chairs screeching against the floor to get up after me. There was a complete silence that I didn't bother listening to until I forced their big and fancy door open to step into the night air. I could feel a deep humidity hit me forcefully, but I didn't know whether it had rained or not. I guess I was actually kind of happy to be under a family's care, but I knew I shouldn't have bothered. I stuffed my hands in my pocket and left their property before I remembered that I had absolutely no where to go.

Perhaps I could've gone home right away. But I didn't. Instead I just kept walking the street-lamped lit streets that seemed eerily quiet. No one would have enough sense to go alone at this time. Of course, I finally left that sickly lit street to find even less people, even less lighting. Nothing stopped me, though. I knew the Twilight Town Cliffs like that back of my hand. I didn't have to go home just yet, because I knew someone wouldn't be waiting for me like I wanted. So I made my decision that I should probably sort out my head before I went back and fumed at everyone I saw.

It was a lot quieter than I had hoped. I assumed it was already half past ten, but it seemed peaceful with no one around. I was feeling more lonelier than I ever have in my life, and that's why I resorted to walking at least a mile downtown to my school. I didn't know why, but I was sort of drawn to it. The gates were sealed shut, but that didn't stop me from standing outside them for a while. _What a waste of my time_.

I can say that I kicked at least twenty rocks around, waiting for something to happen. Nothing did, and I resorted to keep walking. The dress shoes I still had on for a couple hours were beginning to kill me, and I didn't feel like walking away anymore. It was probably almost midnight, and I didn't want to be caught outside after-hours. _Years of building up a reputation because I was young and clueless._

Before the ice-cream shop closed up, I got myself a vanilla popsicle that tasted sicker than any other flavor. It tasted so wonderful. All I did was lick unconsciously, but it already began to run onto my fingertips.

Loud voices came from behind me, and I made way for this couple, one with dark black hair and a girl with a long, brunette braid. They were walking side by side, unaware that I was even there. They were holding each other's hand, and I as I passed them, they looked somewhat familiar. Something about them struck me to remember that I _still _hadn't told Naminé the one thing I really wanted to say after this whole week. It was like a leech sticking on to me right now, and I couldn't even get it off my back. I sucked. Why did I have to drag out everything longer than it should be?

In reality, back in Twilight Town, I had made it to the train station. I kicked one of the steps leading up to the station, but it didn't even hurt. I went up the steps wearily, as if I had no sleep for days, and ascended up this long and winding staircase. I didn't think it would end, with this long headache growing accustomed in my head. But I was able to force open that rooftop door, just in time to walk out into something I didn't expect—_rain._

The humidity pulled on my jacket, so I just pulled that off. I undid the tie hanging off my neck and placed it somewhere else on the floor, but I nearly stumbled off the edge of the tower when I did. I don't remember how, but once I finally got myself on the ledge, I knew there was no turning back. How foolish of me to take off my coat, or my tie. The rain thoroughly soaked my white shirt, but I didn't have the incentive to take that off. Rain was actually very relaxing on my skin.

At that moment, with the rain threatening to wash out everything in its path, a melancholic clock chime was heard from the tower. It was rather deafening, but I didn't mind it much. It sounded a lot better than the rain hitting my hands, hair, and face.

I knew Tifa would have a temper episode if she found me trudging back home with dripping wet clothes and only a short-sleeve thin shirt on, sodden through-and-through. But would she really even go home tonight? I could tell she didn't think I was there, since it was the last place I'd go to, but what if they were to come looking for me? _Hmph…_what if Cloud actually gave a concern. Tifa wouldn't stress over it too much. But Naminé, I wasn't too sure about. At times, she was like a timebomb, ready to explode any second, but I hoped that she wasn't too worried about me. I wished people weren't concerned with me.

The shirt I had on was now completely stuck to me, and the rain didn't seem like it'd let up. With my luck, I'd be lucky if I found shelter tonight, seeing as I couldn't sleep in my own bed tonight. I brought my clammy legs to my chest, and buried my head right on my knees. How awful that felt, to sit there _alone _and soaked already down to my skin. _Where did I think I could go?_

The last thing I remembered before I nearly passed out on the ledge right then and there was falling off the right side of the ledge—the one with a _floor_—and landing with a big _thud_onto my wet jacket. I was face up, and the rain was always forcing my eyes to close, then open, so I was blinking like a madman. But suddenly, I found myself not blinking at all, my eyes still trying to close themselves, and a black sky hanging over me. I could still perceive the rain still falling around me, but my face remained dry for the time being. Then I drifted off to a long a rather wet sleep that I knew would come to an end.

**_In the future…_**

_"Welcome to the annual Winter Junior Prom!"_

_"I've been waiting for you, Naminé."_

_"I don't want it this way. I'm sorry I was too ignorant to realize that…"_

_"Don't touch her!"_

_"On the count of three, we jump."_

* * *

AN/ I hope this doesn't make me a lot more cheesier.  
Well, I'm sorry for the late update and all. With this vacation and all!  
I do have a surprise for everyone soon. But yeah.  
If I'm lucky I'll have another chapter **each **by the beginning of August, so watch out.  
And I have a poll on my profile. _Check it out?  
_Thanks so much, and reviewing would make me smile :*


	12. Rejection of Fate: Part IV

**A Scattered Memory**_  
Chapter __**12**__ - __**Rejection of Fate: Part IV**_

_This somewhat meaningless piece of writing is dedicated to the lives lost ten years ago in the morning hours of a Tuesday that started like no other. Yesterday, the families of nearly 3,000 victims mourned the tenth anniversary of a loss they couldn't even retrieve, many of which the void can never be filled. Years from now, some may look and mourn at that point, but I will always be thankful that some mishaps were made that day that saved my aunt from taking that scheduled flight to Los Angeles._

_This is also for the many who have lost someone close to them and are wishing for that one moment where their cherished ones would come back to them. However, no one can reject their own fate, as it is not completely theirs to control. _

_Yesterday, I was a part of the nearly 3,000 victims' families visiting the 9/11 memorial in New York City, but not of my own family, but of my cousin's on the other side of her family. I hoped that there won't be too much despair, but more of an appeasement that can finally be taken as a final resting moment for those lost on September 11, 2001._

—- - - -

"_Welcome to the annual Winter Junior Prom!"_

_"I've been waiting for you, Naminé."_

_"I don't want it this way. I'm sorry I was too ignorant to realize that…"_

_"Don't touch her!"_

_"On the count of three, we jump."_

—- - - -

_"Don't let it get to you!" a tiny voice commands to me. I duck down, just in time for a huge and scaly dragon to swoop down right on top of me. I would've been squashed if not for the voice guiding me._

_I raised a big sword-like weapon high enough to be an extension of my arm. Swishing and flicking, I managed to graze the beast, but that was all I achieved. It was growling loudly—could dragons growl?_

_I still tried desperately to reach the dragon while it was closer to the ground, but I couldn't reach, even with this sword being the longest—and most powerful— magical weapon available in the kingdom: the 'Ultima' weapon. I had forged it myself, and felt so compelled to show it off, which is how I landed in this mess in the first place. _

_Suddenly, my voice wasn't my voice anymore, and my body wasn't being controlled my myself anymore. I finally came to my senses to realize that I was shorter, leaner, and—less smart. "Roxas!" the tiny voice yelled to me. "What're you doing? You're not holding the fort!"_

_This tiny voice that was somehow mine yelled, "Princess Snow, I don't think I—can..." I proceeded in flinging my pretend armor and cardboard-colored sword to the side and collapsed back on what was supposed to be a rocky mountain. It was now a lightly damp grass that I didn't remember being there before. The world morphed back into an original state of a solid floor that felt more than comfortable to lie on. I could feel my clothes sink into a damp earth._

_"Hmph," my tiny squeak pondered as a cloudy sky appeared before me. "I failed again, Princess!"_

_These little blue eyes appear by me and I can see the sparkle in her eyes, imploring to look into mine. A smile came onto her face, and instead of helping me up, she just disappeared from my line of vision and plopped herself next to me, a squish of the ground reminding me that she was still there._

_"It's okay, Roxas," Princess told me. "We can play again later, but you better get right this time!" _

_"I won't, Naminé," I said, still looking up into the sky. It was cloudy enough, and I feared that maybe we might have to go inside earlier. To myself, that was the worst case. I wanted to let myself play along with little Roxas and Naminé, but as always, the dream changed a bit, and now I could see nothing but a pink and orange sky. _

_"Can we have it now?" another small voice asks me, and I never believed I could guess who it was. There sat Sora, a little previous version of his real self today, and he was wearing cute little sandals with red shorts and a white shirt. I couldn't even tell him he looked adorable or anything, because I found myself wearing small sandals and black shorts with a white shirt myself. _

_"No," I was forced to say, and I could see his little smile fade a bit. A wave washed onto to the shore, and I realized we were on some faraway beach that I had almost no recollection of. A sea surrounded us, but somehow I knew we weren't alone in this island. _

_"Awh, Roxas! C'mon, I know Naminé wants some too!" He leaned over my shoulder and asked, "Don't you?"_

_I turned to face little Naminé, and it surely was the girl from earlier, Princess Snow. Inside my earlier memory, the pieces began coming back again. This wasn't a fantasy; this was much more than that. Something I hadn't gotten too much in dreams, and something I always appreciated._

_Another transformation in the landscape and I find myself more on my feet, walking on not sand, but solid floor itself. Everything seems much taller and bigger, but I know I'm in Twilight Town. I knew exactly where I lived, and I was sure that if I went there, I'd find Tifa leaving for work now—or better, at home, waiting to greet me._

_"Thank you, Roxas!" two chibi voices from my side came, and there appeared Sora and Naminé, all with big wide grins holding up their new blue ice-popsicles that they picked at fervently. I held my own hand up, but all I found were spare change that weren't enough to even buy one ice-cream. _

_"I have an idea, guys!" Sora said. Somehow, his lips were colored an even blue tone, but he was too excited to notice. "Since you both live here, I can ask my daddy if we can move here too! I know he'll say yes; he's gotta!" _

_"Hehe," Naminé giggled. "Sora, wipe your mouth, you look silly!" Sora used his white shirt to wipe some off and smiled after doing it. _

_"That's a great idea!" I said. "You might even be able to live on the block Nami lives so I can visit you anytime!" Sora nodded happily and listened patiently. "We can go play video games together, or we can go outside and play, or we can go on vacations together—we can do anything now that our houses will be together!"_

_But suddenly, I stopped walking—not little Roxas, but myself. I looked up to see shady silhouettes of three little kids walking away from me. I was no longer attached to any of them, but they seemed so happy with their ice-cream I couldn't help to think that I had known of that feeling before. The feeling of true friendship and longing to see them every day was apparent to me, and I couldn't do much about it, because my vision was dark again, and I knew that it had ended. I was now awake, in my own opaque world. _

The first thing I noticed was that it had stopped raining, but it was still a heavy one I guessed. More than a lot of puddles surrounded me on the deck of the tower, but none were ever close enough to even touch , my pants had not been soaked through any longer; I was now completely dry, and I didn't know why I wasn't wet at all. Nothing around me had been spared.

Strangely enough, my white shirt was still on, yet half opened. My jacket and tie were gone, and I couldn't remember if I had thrown it somewhere before I passed out. Another thing I asked myself was why I was dry. The sun was peeking out of the clouds, but it wasn't enough to evaporate puddles. Besides, my hair wouldn't have been this spiky.

I got myself to get to the staircase and I tried my best to not fall or slip down. There were still wet spots on the steps, but I couldn't think of how they would get there. Once I reached the bottom, I saw the rest of Twilight Town's residents wandering around, going to the train station and such. I glanced at the clock, which read ten past eleven o'clock. Not much was said and done, but I was well on my way trying to go home.

—**- - - -**

Halfway up the street to my house, the thought had finally occurred to me that I had become a sort of refuge last night. It didn't appear that there was anyone lingering around inside my house, and this was the point where I had lost faith in everything. I was locked out, stranded, with a bunch of wet clothes and a foolish attitude.

At that point my only thought was changing out of my clothes, and the only place that offered a sanctuary was the adjacent neighbor that I had visited last night. It seemed all the more discomforting to have to face them right now, especially since I didn't know what I would face while I was there.

I stooped onto the small porch we had that overlooked onto a rather small lawn. It struck me odd that the grass looked healthy and the surrounding shrubbery was looking glossy and flawless when I didn't think the rain would make it look this perfect. Checking inside my head for awhile, I couldn't seem to pick a better solution to this since I had nothing on me, and I wasn't even sure if someone had taken my jacket or tie. One thing I did know for a fact was that I was not going back to the so-called "Strife" household for a little while longer.

It seemed that the only thing I really wanted to do was return to another translucent world where there weren't any secrets kept from me. I found solace in that reverie I had earlier, and I couldn't pin-point the reason why. I took into account that I was being an extremely moody teenager last night, something I knew I shouldn't have done at that time. That's right. It was foolish on my own demands.

But if that midnight dream had taught me anything was that it was probably another flashback that my brain had made up. I mean, I never knew Naminé before I met her this year, for sure. Sora, however was perfectly fine and accustomed to everything. In fact, everything in my dream that Sora did was an accurate representation.

Which meant...

Sora lived right across the street too.

_How could I have forgotten?  
How could I...? _

—**- - - -**

The ring of the door bell lasted longer than the average door bell, and I could still hear it ringing when Sora opened the door with a tooth brush hanging from the side of his mouth. Toothpaste foam was already dripping down his chin and he already had some on his white t-shirt.

"Ruk-sass?" Sora said, his toothbrush still firmly stuck in his mouth. I nodded and waved to him. Slowly, he began shutting the door.

"Hey, don't shut it on me—" I pushed the door open and could see that no one was there. I was all alone, Sora's living room relatively empty save for a couch and a tv connected to numerous gaming systems. I looked into the other rooms in hopes of finding Sora or maybe his mom, but I couldn't find anyone.

That is, until I ran into Kairi.

"Hey, Sora, do you think that there's a difference to Honey-Nut and Regular—"

I literally ran into her.

"Sora, what the heck? Is this what you'd do after last night; hey, you owe me," she muttered without even looking up. I saw she was suspiciously wearing a one-size-too-big shirt that I could somehow remember Sora wearing, along with some black gym shorts. Her hair was bed-head proud, and she looked like she barely even looked at herself in the mirror.

"Last night..." I said mysteriously, and that's when Kairi had to jump back a few feet in shock.

"Rox! Whata...What're you doin' here? And, why are you all wet?"

I crossed my arms over my shirt. "I should be asking why you're here, Miss Kairi. Or maybe I should change your last name to Sora's by now...?" I joked.

Kairi's eyes significantly widened, and I heard a couple of footsteps coming our way, but they seemed to be in a panicking rush.

"Kairi, quick!" Sora yelled, the toothpaste now rinsed out. "Hide! It's Rox—OH hello there, Roxas! Didn't see you there! Hah! So how's it going...?"

Sora rubbed at the back of his ear nervously while Kairi slowly walked back into the pantry. She retrieved two cereal boxes, both of the same yellow color, but with different wording on each of them. She set them on the little table out in the next room and brought out three bowls.

"Come on. I think I should tell you, Roxas."

**—- - - -**

After slurping the last of the milk at the bottom of the bowl, I wiped my lips with my hand, something I still hadn't grown over. "It's funny, because I think I have the opposite situation here."

"Roxas! That isn't funny to Kairi!" Sora said, his voice a little stern, which I didn't even recognize as a 'Sora dialect.' All of a sudden, he took an interest in protecting other people's rights and becoming very assertive. I assumed it had to do with that talk I gave him about becoming a man someday. My eyebrows raised questioningly, but he sort of looked away.

"It's true!" I argued. I didn't bring up the stories of the night before and I didn't intentionally plan to, but I had to tell them something if they were to lend me some clothes. Kairi slouched into her chair a bit, her circle-shaped bowl of cereal waiting for her, but she didn't even peek at it.

Sora sat in his chair motionless, but he didn't have pout on his face like I had expected of him. He looked genuinely and maturely unreasoned and looked like he demanded me to state why I was right. Was he growing up already?

Meanwhile, I leaned over to Kairi. "I understand what you're going through. I'm sorry that I misinterpreted your reason of being here..."

All she did was nod back, but she looked like she was biting her lip to hold back tears. I got to my knees so that I could look her in the eye, and that's when I saw a single tear slide down the left side of her face. It was barely noticeable, but I had already wiped it away.

"You don't have to cry," I told her. "Everything will be all right..."

Kairi didn't look too well. "...What if it isn't?" she asked. "What if my parents will be separated and it'll be all because of me...?"

"Kairi?" I said. "Can you look me in the eye, and tell me that you're a horrible person?"

"...Well, I am a—"

I slowly stroked the top of Kairi's head and occasionally wiped away a stray tear. "No. You're not a bad person. You're Kairi. Sweet, lovable Kairi; and I do not know anyone more braver, beautiful, or wise. Your parents getting divorced isn't because of you, and it will never be."

She was still sniffling, but she looked a little less emotional. When she led me into the kitchen earlier, I did not expect it that she had actually run away from home unexpectedly, and that she had found refuge at Sora's house. Thankfully, it was the weekend, and Sora's parents were gone on business leave and he was trusted to watch the house for the day. Sora and Kairi explained that they would have to think of a reason to let Kairi stay without anyone becoming suspicious.

Though I truly felt bad for Kairi, I didn't want her to live the rest of her years on the run. I wanted her to be safe with her mom or dad, and with a real family instead of a makeshift one. Her parents, I hoped, were looking for her at that very second, and I wanted to tell her that, but I didn't think she'd listen.

"Hey," I said to Kairi one last time. "Go upstairs and wash your eyes. I don't want to see your pretty face like that, okay?" I said, somewhat reminiscent of a father coaching his little daughter to not draw all over themselves. It was heart-warming, that scene—watching Kairi move up the stairs standing a little bit taller and a whole lot more confident.

"That was great..." Sora said, still in his demeaning pose. I somewhat groaned at Sora, but he still didn't take any hint.

"Sora, if you want Kairi to stay here for a longer time, I suggest you start actually opening up to her."

He straightened up. "You mean opening up this—"

"No, no, not that! I meant...if she were feeling down in the dumps or just plain unconfident, I want you to pull out a relative sob story in which you came out strong, or that time you overcame an obstacle like the one she's talking about, etc.," I said, already pulling off the damp shirt and throwing it over my shoulder. He sort of just nodded slightly and understood.

"Now..." I told him. "Treat me like a house guest and fetch me some new robes," I ordered. My speech caught his eye, and he smirked away from me.

"Will do, master."

**—- - - -**

"Put the thingy-thing on the place there—yes, right there—and leave it there! Yes! Yes, FINALLY." Sora raised his hands in the air in exclamation. "Don't move, Kairi. Your turn, Roxas."

I rolled my eyes and picked up the dice from Kairi's side. Another stupid game of Sora's was laid in front of us, and we were already going into our third hour straight playing, and if that's hard to picture, imagine a bunch of teenagers periodically yelling at each other the directions of the game while keeping the deck in their hands in order. I tossed the dice, and it turned into a good turnout—the best I had the entire game—and I moved my place marker eight steps.

"Oh, Roxas is coming up behind me," number one's Sora kept whispering to me. I ignored him and picked up one of the little cue cards from the deck in my hand. Kairi had a blank look on her face that told me she wanted to do anything other than this, but she kept her cue cards on her lap.

"You have just fallen into a pit of darkness, filled with heartless, anti-forms, and mysterious figures that sit by a beach of sorts, almost awaiting your arrival," I read out loud. I can feel Sora's expression lightening and almost cheering me on to read more. I continued.

"You have now lost the game."

Sora laughed maniacally. "Sucks for you, Roxas! Looks like you gave up your five Oricalchum, and that makes up for the two I had!" I watch as he snatches my two Oricalchum pieces and—magically, I may add—forms the most powerful weapon in the board game's know universe.

"I win!" Sora congratulates himself, while Kairi and I toss our cards in and watch as Sora smiles widely and cheers himself. I give a half-hearted smile while Kairi does the same. I stood up and left the festivity, and climbed up the stairs so I could get my stuff. I was heading home, since it was already eight in the evening.

"Hey Kairi, where are my clothes hanging?" I shouted from the top of the stairs. She looked up towards me and hurriedly stood up and followed me.

"You're going home?" she asked.

I nodded, and she understood. She led me into one of the rooms on the end of a long hallway. There were eight doors at the most, and I could tell which room was Sora's. She led me in, and I saw my shirt and pants hanging by the window sill.

"You're going to have a good time staying at Sora's, aren't you?" I said to Kairi. She was sitting on Sora's bed, and she told me that for the night she'd have to sleep on the other side of Sora's bed away from the door just in case his parents would come home.

"How about you?" Kairi asked. "Why were you out and about last night and it soaked your clothes?"

I sat down next to her and realized the mattress was really comfortable. Like, insanely comfortable that I had to feel the rest of it. I put by back to it and felt how cushioned it was. I wouldn't mind staying her at all.

"Parent business," I told her simply, but she didn't nod in agreement. She seemed to think she understood my situation, but now she looked as though if she were to say something of advice, it would backfire against her.

I went on to explain that Cloud and Tifa were my actual parents ("That's kind of...gross," she replied.) and that they had refused to take care of me over the years. For once, I told her that I felt left out, somewhat yearning for attention, but when I got it, I didn't like it. I was the only child, but when I found out they were comforting and housing other kids that I never knew about really made me lose my head.

"I'm sorry, Roxas. I really am," Kairi said.

"It's okay. I'm sorry for you too," I told her. She laid down next to me, and all we did was look up at Sora's ceiling. It was plain white and it looked like it had been covered with posters earlier, seeing as there was still tape on the wall. A wall clock steadily made ticking noises, and I evenly counted a good four-hundred before I got up and looked around at Sora's room. Nice and clean, I found out.

I opened the window and looked down. It wasn't that far of a jump if I went down part of the roof, so I sat on the window sill. Kairi looked at me with this weird expression, and I knew she thought I was going to jump or something.

"I'm just going out the window so Sora won't see me leave," I told her.

"Good choice," Kairi said, sort of rubbing her eyes a bit more. "He would panic and—"

"—want me to stay, yeah. Trying to avoid that." I saluted her off, and she saluted me back. "See you on Monday."

I sort of leaped out the window and I felt the roof supporting my weight. After contemplating a bit, I took a jump and landed on my feet, happily on the ground. I looked around in the dark scenery, and saw that the street lights were going on, and so were my house lights, so I began the long trek home.

"Hey, Kairi." I heard Sora's voice fill the room that I had just left, and I didn't dare try to look up to the window. I ran, and I didn't stop running. I didn't want to hear it when Sora heard that I'd left so soon.

**—- - - -**

When I crept in through the living room window, I saw that the lights were on, but no one was around. It seemed as if it were somewhat of a reflex to see Tifa around. I saw her shoes kicked to a corner of the room and a jacket flung over the couch, still a little damp from rain. I noticed that it was eerily quiet, and for a second I considered that someone_other _than my mother was in here. Another reflex of mine kicked into action and I slowly tiptoed around the room to see that other than a few articles strewn around, it looked exactly like how I had left it the other night.

The kitchen table was completely clean, something that wasn't odd since I hadn't been home last night. The sink was still overflowing with wet dishes that I hadn't started to yet, and the garbage had not been taken out yet for the pickup this morning. I staggered slowly down the small hallway leading to my room, and the door was tightly shut, just as I had left it. I tried my best to keep my footsteps as quiet as possible, but me making no noise wasn't what I had heard. I heard these buttons being pushed frantically while a somewhat inaudible but heavy breathing pattern kept repeating, and it didn't stop until someone's voice interrupted the silence.

"Hi, I'm at—_uhm_—1038 Glen Street in the Twilight Town Cliffs," said a panicking voice. It sounded like a commanding and masculine voice that I couldn't quite place at that moment, and at first I thought that it was someone that had broken into the house while I was gone and was bringing a bunch of his cronies along with him. I didn't jump to conclusions, of course, and bust the door open, but I just continued eavesdropping and holding my breath as quietly as I could.

The voice continued answering, "_Yes," _and there was never a "No" involved. If this were ever a robbery, I would've expected the man's voice to be more forceful and scary, but he sounded something far from that. He had the tone of a scared and frantic person that was asking for _help_, not back-up. I continued listening, and the scene took a turn for the worse when I finally decided to push the door open into my mother's room and walking in on something far from a robbery.

Cloud was on the side of my mother's bed, his back facing to me, and he was the one speaking on the phone frantically. He seemed to be explaining the situation in which I had just walked into. Slowly, my eyes wandered to see what was actually causing him to become frantic—Tifa was on the floor in front of me, next to her bed, with her hands covering her eyes and her knees tucked near her chest. She was still wearing her work uniform, but I could see that she had probably never left. Her clothes were drenched, or at least they had been, and around her there was a deep wet stain around her that seeped from her clothes. I stepped on the puddle with my bare feet and felt the carpet squish underneath me.

Cloud turned around quickly, and saw me standing over her. "Don't touch her, Roxas!" I didn't move from my spot, but I did acknowledge his warning and didn't reach down to touch her. I was quite confused as to why this was happening, or even what was going on. Could it be that she had collapsed from not too much sleep? She _had _been out for a strange number of hours, and while she was working at her double life, I was still concerned with the amount of actual sleep she was getting.

I looked up to Cloud who had still been talking on the phone. I caught words like, "_collapse_," and "_stress," _and "_no sleep_." I could tell from Cloud's stressed position and nervous words that he was deeply anxious for the wellbeing for Tifa, even though he didn't even know if anything was serious. All I did for the rest of the couple minutes Cloud was on the phone was stare at Cloud, and then stare back at Tifa. Before I knew it, Cloud had hung up, but he didn't stay in his place by the edge of the bed. He had moved closer to me, close enough for me to almost feel his coat draped over me, and for the first time in as long as I could _ever _remembered, he took me into his embrace, and kept that up for what seemed like an eternity. He had crouched down to my height, which I noticed, wasn't that big of a difference anymore, and I saw that his still unsteady breath kept on rising and then falling.

"Your mom was worried about you," he finally muttered, but I didn't even blink at this. I knew she'd somehow react like that, and there was somehow almost _no _emotion coursing through my veins. Here I was _again, _in a point in time where I couldn't even express what was going on in my head, but I did know that if I were in a normal condition, I would do the right thing—_I would've been hugging him back, in a way that a kid would normally do every day when their father would come back from work._

Manically, I didn't exactly mean it when I said, "I know." I didn't really know. I was kidding myself. All I knew last night was that I was alone, and I didn't have anyone to go to. In my heart, I knew that if I just went home, none of this would've happened. Tifa wouldn't be in a small pile on the floor in what I couldn't tell was a nap or something else. I didn't really want to know, really, what it was;the answer could potentially frighten me even further. If it was enough for Cloud to acknowledge me, I had done something incredibly foolish last night, making that decision to hide.

I could hear the sirens penetrating the thin walls of the room and the knocking at the door that I would later escort my mother out through. She was still unconscious and I couldn't really look at her, but I just watched them take her out. The paramedics asked quick questions to both me and Cloud, with which Cloud mostly answered. Finally, the came to me to ask me about myself and my relation with the afflicted.

"I'm Roxas," I introduced myself. "I'm her son, and that's my dad." I pointed to Cloud getting into his car to follow the ambulance to the hospital.

"Oh," the woman said, nodding. She jotted down a couple notes, and I watched as everyone else cleared out from my house to pile into the ambulance. The woman asked me if I wanted to come.

"Do you want to ride with your father, or would you like to stay with your mother?"

I leaned myself on the doorframe of the entrance, and sighed deeply. "I'll...tag along later.

She nodded to me as well, and I saluted her off, almost similar to how I wished off Kairi earlier this evening. I had already taken a seat on the small front porch and watched them all leave, a parade of emergency vehicles with a dark black luxury vehicle followed. Why I wasn't in there was puzzling. Today, I was essentially out of it for even deciding to leave home last night, and that's when it had all started. The ball had begun picking up momentum, and pretty soon, I may not have been able to pick up the pieces that were now missing. Without me noticing anything, my cheek was stained by a small stream of a tear that I didn't wipe away. I just kind of left it there to fall, and then later dry up on its own.

And now there was another alluding thought swallowing my entire thoughts, almost in an instant: explaining this situation. This was probably one of the worst case scenarios I could've ever imagined to transpire after that Friday night, and the worst part would probably be trying to think of how I could fix this situation, or more explaining why no one was home at either my residence or the Strife residence.

_Naminé Strife_.

Imagine saying that, while I remained my very own _Roxas Lockhart Strife_.

How _strange_.

"Hey, Roxas. I just came over to see what was going on," a voice called over to me from in front of me. There she was, approaching me in all this glory that neither of us really needed. She was wearing a gold hoodie, almost the same color as her own hair, and these jean shorts that had another golden spot on one of the sides. With a solemn look, I greeted her normally, with a wave and a half-hearted smile, but she still came up to me, with that unique smile. Everything about her was _golden _that day.

I didn't immediately tell her what had happened and where Cloud was going. I just sat there and continued looking at the spot that the ambulance and Cloud's car had just been. Lucky for me, Naminé enjoyed the silence, and she just waited patiently for me to answer. She knew I was going to speak eventually. She could read me like a book, even deeper than its author.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," Naminé finally answered, but she didn't look straight at me. She actually just kept looking at my house, and she wouldn't even peel her eyes away for even a second.

"About what?" I asked her. "My parents, or—"

"Both. I really am. Some things…really are better left—"

"Naminé, this isn't one of those things. And you _know _that for a fact."

She just continued watching my house, as if she felt that it was going to change at any second. I mostly stared at the lawn in front of me, before my eyes adjusted to see Naminé still in front of me. The dream that I had this morning wouldn't stop bothering me, because I couldn't really justify as a fact that that had really happened. _Had it? _Was I just so ignorant of the world around me that I had forgotten almost everything that I had grown up with, including _Sora? _Why did I just remember where he had moved to after being in the same school as him for years? Why couldn't I even realize that Cloud had been living across the street, housing one of my best friends Naminé? And most of all, why was I beginning to lose interest in myself, since it seemed that everything I did wrong—whether it was screwing up and letting opportunities surpass me, or just disregarding the wellbeing of others? Did I really raise myself to be like that, or had it just so suddenly _started _again, without warning.

"I need to go, Naminé. Your dad's at the New Dawn Hospital, if you want to see him. Just ask for Tifa, and I'm sure you'll find him." I stood up for the first time in what seemed like a few hours and made my way to shut the door. I didn't think Naminé would want to stay.

"Wait!" she said, pressing her hand on the door firmly. "Aren't you going to visit your mom?"

I was really eager to just be left alone at this point. I didn't forcefully close the door on her, but I did try to let her palm move away from the door. "I will later. I'll see you on Monday."

"But—"

And another wrong decision was made that day, something that I've contemplated about for a long time, that if I had done a different thing, _none of this would've ever happened._

—**- - - -**

"Welcome to the annual Winter Junior Prom! Please feel free to leave your jackets with the coat check, and have the best time you could possibly have in high school!"

A loud applause roared throughout the entire room, and probably throughout the entire building, as everyone just raises their hands in cheering and excitement, dancing along to the pumping music. Like every loner at a party, I'm near the corner of the room, where the refreshments are, in the same damp suit from last Friday, and an even more anxious feeling coursing in my veins. I saw a couple people I knew from classes I had and had once sat at lunch with, but other than them that was it. Despite being juniors like me, Xion wasn't present, and I couldn't find Ven anywhere. Naminé wasn't present either, and I had suddenly and slowly began to panic.

What if she didn't show up? I mean, that was the whole reason I had decided to come. I wasn't here to upstage Ven—no, that would've been the un-classy thing to do—and I was here for an even more relieving reason. Hidden in the comfort of my hands, I was holding the box that I had originally intended for Naminé to have, still in its original encasing. I didn't grip it too tightly, but I was clutching it closely, hoping that I wouldn't drop while I maneuvered through the crowd of people. I was growing more and more apprehensive by the minute, and all I did to contain the feeling was gulp down more and more fruit punch that I could _feel _were slightly spiked.

Periodically, someone would come up to me and ask me who I came with. I would reply "no one," and they'd nod and say, "Oh, that's cool," when really, I knew that they didn't mean it. That was the great thing about junior prom. It meant that I only had approximately a year and a half left with these _jerks_; and finally I'd be my own separate person, and opportunity I had delved in a bit a few years ago, but now I was ready for a change. _Typical high school problems._

After about what felt like more than an hour, I finished staring at my watch and got up from one of those chairs set aside for those who wanted to sit down. None of the aforementioned people were there—I didn't see a trace of Naminé or Ven, and it was now time for couple's hour. I did feel a more longing to be with my friends now, and that when I got up to go look around for Naminé. The dining room was huge, so it was hard to even maneuver around her. I couldn't even think about having to move around to go to the bathroom in the restaurant itself. Besides, _all _the affluent people in the neighborhood went to this restaurant, and all of them would look at me and scoff loudly and stare.

It was almost late evening by the time I walked out of the swanky restaurant and saw the beautiful view in front of the place. It was the river that ran right in the middle of the city, almost dividing the wealthy from the middle-classed without anyone really realizing it. The many city lights that reflected off of the river were in different colors, and I could see the many of them blinking, almost looking like twinkling stars that I never usually saw in the city. The air was cool, and I could see a few other people outside with others and taking pictures with everyone at the river. I almost wanted to pull some of the girls away from the edge; our town was too oblivious to the real problems and didn't even install railing by any side of the river. To my knowledge, at least _thirty _people had fallen in, some even fatal.

But something caught my attention by the bridge into New Twilight City. Nothing was quite like it; not even the beauty of the reflection on the river. A flowing yellow-gold dress cradled the small figure that stood by the river. No one was around her, though it was something that immediately shocked me; my eyes were completely attracted to that one person there. From my spot farther away from the figure, I could feel a sustainable heat creeping throughout my entire body, warming myself to a point of uncomfortable uncertainty. I almost dropped the box I had kept close to me for an unbearable amount of time. All that _gold _last Friday really seemed to be a preview of what she really was going to drop on my shoulders.

I slowly approached her, and before I did, I saw that she was now sitting on one of the benches overlooking the river, with her legs crossed enough to see her silver-shining high-heeled shoes that I never thought I'd see on a person like her. Like an oblivious stranger, I took a seat next to her, and she noticed me immediately. I smile was apparent on her face, but I knew that she didn't think it was because she thought I was Ven.

"I've been waiting for you, Naminé...I'm glad you showed up."

"Roxas," she said. "You came?"

I smirked a bit, bringing the box closer to my chest. "Of course. Didn't need to miss out on all the fun."

She laughed a bit, and I just relished in that small giggle she had. "Ven's not here," she told me. "I don't even know where he is..."

Now this sounded like the moment in which I should have tried to get her to come inside with me, dance with me, _all _the natural intentions. But I didn't want to spend my time inside a crowded room with many people I really didn't know of; I really had fun staying outside with Naminé. I pursed my lips, almost like I was surprised he hadn't showed. I wasn't necessarily worried at all, because Ven was his own person, and I knew I could trust him.

"Are you going to be going inside anytime soon?" I asked in a meager tone.

She looked over to me, and almost looked like she was examining my facial expression, or perhaps just my eyes, and almost my very thoughts. I didn't doubt that she couldn't, really, but she looked like she really did not want to put any effort in paying much curiosity to me. It was all an act, and I saw that through her very own eyes.

"I wouldn't think so," she replied, resting her hands on her lap. "I'm not even much for parties, right?"

I nodded slowly. I'd just have to wait a couple more seconds, and then I'd think it would be an appropriate time to give her the box. If I gave it to her at that same second, it would seem too rehearsed for my liking and it would be crazy awkward. I almost began tightening my grip on the box, but I just let go of it completely and let it sit in my lap. If only I could've just said those words aloud, instead of having inanimate objects do it for me, _again_, we wouldn't be in any of this mess. I mean, everything physically started and _ended _with me. Any second now, and Naminé could waltz away from me, into the crowded room of people, and forget all about me, sitting in the cold.

When I finally got tired of waiting for anyone to walk in front of us, I finally just stood up to face Naminé head on. I hoped she hadn't fallen asleep or anything, so I just kept my cool and hoped she would look up to me and see that I was ready to make my announcement. She lifted her head slowly and almost lifelessly, but her eyes told a different story. Another shimmering color of blue and gold seemed to flood her irises, and I was once again attracted to the sudden appearance of color. She smiled, and I could feel my insides warming up again at the sight of that. I could feel the cheeky red color returning to my cheeks, but I didn't acknowledge it. This was a lot more important.

Then, a third and unnecessary presence became the center of attention, I could feel. I suddenly looked around and saw that no one was around at that point, that all the lingering people had gone indoors at some point and I had not even noticed it. There was not another living soul that I knew about besides Naminé and me. It was unsettling, enough for me to go on offense and look around in wonder at where everyone had gone. Naminé too had noticed, and she abruptly stood, almost bumping into me. I walked farther away from the bench to investigate a bit.

"Where...did everybody—"

A muffled cry emerged from behind me, close to where I had once been standing. "Roxas!"

On guard, I turned back and saw Naminé being straggled by a man that I could've sworn I had seen earlier, and that was enough for me to race back towards her and come to her aid. The man kept backing up quickly, and I didn't even think I could make it before he made a single fatal move.

"Don't touch her!" I yelled loudly, hoping not only to try and scare the person off, but also so I could be able to alert some of the others to drop their forks and knives long enough to help me out.

He began quickening his pace, but so did I. Naminé was squirming as much as she could, and she didn't even notice that she was tripping over her own shoes now. Finally, the man stopped trying to flee, and now he just looked deeply at me through his visible eye, one that glowed a deep and bright orange color. He didn't smirk, or laugh, or taunt me in any way, he just looked at me, almost like he was analyzing if I really was worth the run. It made me stop as well, and now I was almost about ten feet away from him, a distance that I could have easily closed with a confrontation to his head with my fist.

But I didn't do any of that. I more of just had a stare-down while Naminé struggled to even stay upright. It wasn't because I was so captivated by he himself, but more because it looked like he was telling me a story; a story I couldn't quite picture as being real, and behind that story, there was a reason why all of this was suddenly happening. That transition from a seemingly peaceful inside gathering turned into a chance meeting, turned into what was maybe a misunderstanding. But I couldn't take any chances. Whatever this man was trying to share to me should've been expressed in a much more different way than nearly kidnapping my best friend.

Before I even realized what had even happened right then and there, he had released his grip on Naminé, and he shoved her towards me. I had to cradle her in my arms, and she was so terrified of what was going on; I could feel it from the way her body trembled even while I held her. The man didn't stop his gaze. It seemed now that his gaze intensified, and I found it hard to believe that we were going to get out of this situation.

_And so I ran. _

Still holding Naminé's left hand, I ran as fast as I could to get to the bridge that spanned across the river. I didn't think he'd actually _chase _us. It seemed that a couple of the restaurant guests had noticed something and ran outside, and I guessed that they had seen at least part of the scene. The bridge wasn't that far away, and I could feel my feet killing themselves while I ran in those annoying and cramped shoes. Naminé looked like she didn't have any trouble running, and I felt such a pang of jealousy for her discarding her shoes.

I looked back towards me, my spiked-up hair threatening to puncture my face, and I just saw the recurring image of the man chasing after us; or at least he _looked _he was chasing after us. A few people were noticing, and so they shouted back into the place for people to come help us. I could hear it almost halfway across the river. Meanwhile, I had gotten this almost crazy and reckless idea that I thought would help me solve all my problems. It wasn't what I'd normally want, but I just mainly considered that it was beneficial to both Naminé and I. I didn't think so, but my decision ended up benefiting more than just me.

"Naminé, listen carefully," I said, the running cutting off my speech. She didn't look at me, but I knew that she could tell I was talking to her.

Once the words came out of my mouth, they made even less sense. "I don't want it this way. I'm sorry I was too ignorant to realize this…"

We were finally nearing the middle of the bridge, but I saw this huge crowd of people gathering on the other side of the bridge. If we were to run straight through that, we could've caused a bit more commotion than I had intended. Plus, there was a guy following us; a big, _dangerous_ guy that I didn't want to drag into the lives of others. I gripped Naminé's hand a little tighter, and then I started counting.

_"On the count of three, we jump."_

**_—- - - -_**

The feeling of hundreds of gallons of water doesn't do much to cushion our falls. I felt my shirt being soaked through for the second time, and once again, I was totally immersed in water. We had a running start, and that's why we landed up farther away from the bridge than I had realized. I'm still tightly holding on to Naminé's hand, and I don't make any effort to let go. We sink in a little deeper, and I look to see if Naminé is fine. Her hair is a bit more looser, but she looked fine to me. That's when I silently asked her if she could hold on for a little while, and that's when she gave me a thumbs up. We began our slow and fragile descent.

* * *

A/N: I have **no **excuses. This is two months late, I know. Long long story short, I was still on vacation through half of August, and I had to go back to college. I'm in college now, as you guys are back at school, and I pity _all of us_. 2 days after 9/11/11 ;c so sad.

I went to the memorial (I didn't go inside -_- yet) with my cousin and my other friend, who both lost loved ones that day. It makes me feel very lucky to be here, and I hope you guys feel grateful too :) I'm really running off track here, but I have a surprise for this Saturday Sept. 17! I promise I got this one, because it's an official day!

You'll never believe it! This word count is a bit off, but it says I have 9k+ words! record, right?


	13. Painting the Sky

**A Scattered Memory**  
**Chapter 13**: _Painting the Sky_

I'd never felt more magical underwater; the feeling overwhelmed me, feeling nothing like on land. It almost felt that if I were to be shipwrecked on some big ship with my mysterious,forbidden maiden and we were to _drown_ at any moment, I would find _pleasure _in those last seconds with her as our lifeless bodies catapulted into oblivion. Of course, that wasn't the situation that day, and it was by our own free will that we had ended up this way.

I wasn't simply underwater for a long period of time to enjoy the soothing depths of the sea. I cared a lot more about Naminé's wellbeing, but seeing as I had time to spare, I felt that now all I really needed to do was get away. _Maybe under the bridge would help_, I had thought to myself, and that's when I had to tug along Naminé with me, our breaths running shorter and shorter by the minute. Suddenly, I felt the pressure release from my hand, and I could feel the empty space of water envelop my hand. Frantically, I risked the action of turning my head and saw that Naminé was swimming on her own, her dress floating in a thousand different waves, but it didn't look like it bothered her.

In those splintering seconds, we reached our breaking point and broke the surface of the once-serene waters. The city lights dawned on us, and I saw a crowd of flustered-looking people that had been disturbed to observe the spectacle that was...us. There was no sign of the man, from what I could see.

"Roxas!" a deep and piercing voice screams from atop the bridge. "Are you absolutely _mad?_" His suit is all messed-up and wrinkled in all different places, the spikes on his head looking a little less agitated than normal.

"Why are you _here_, Sora?" I called up to the boy, groaning and slightly disappointed in his petty disobedience. I literally told him not so long ago to wait his turn for a good prom. His expression did not falter, and I realized he was probably pissed at my mental health or something.

I didn't worry about the gel in my hair being soaked away. I didn't pay attention to the water seeping into places I thought they'd never go with clothes on. I turned my head towards the matted-down and wet Naminé that still looked a bit surprised and overwhelmed. I sighed to myself again, while keeping myself afloat.

"You alright, Naminé?" I asked, my arms still waving and my legs still kicking to keep myself afloat. The small and petite body of hers was continually getting interrupted by the puffs of the evening gown, so I finally let up and wrapped a free arm around her waist so we could float to shore. Her waist was easy to hold onto, and after she nodded in reply, I made my way towards the shore.

"I must have death-glared two-hundred people in the past two hours."

"Roxas! It isn't polite to _stare intensely _at others like that..."

"'You've gone mad if you can withstand all these people looking—"

"...Aren't you the one who decided to—?"

I sighed loudly. "I know," I said, hugging the fabric closer to me. Naminé did the same, her damp and moisture-collected gown now hanging limp and colorless, but still overly-fitting for a girl like her. It seemed as though it was meant to be sunken in. She hugged herself closer, and I reached over in a kindly gesture and put my arm around her, my towel extending to cover her as well as me. We were like two superheroes, sharing a cape, which, in a way, I was trying to think fit for us perfectly.

"All right, all right, that's enough from everybody," a very assertive and colorless Xemnas says to break up the overall weight in the air. "I think we've had enough for today. Just...everybody go home." He ran an aggravated hand through his silver-stained hair while the flock of the genuinely-disappointed students scattered, but the several of us who stuck around to listen to Mr. Xemnas remained glued to the grass.

What seemed to be a lot of annoyed and tedious hair drawbacks later, he finally forced his eyes upon us, a group consisting of those he asked to stay; the student council; Naminé and I; and definitely not Sora. His eyes were misty whenever he'd glance at me, and so he finally gave up on it and kept staring onwards to face Mr. Xemnas. I held Naminé closer, and she acknowledged this when she stepped a little closer to fit perfectly by my side.

"In all my years of running this prestigious academy for _obscene_ children like you, I've never encountered such a petulant group of young students, much less you, Roxas. I expected better of you, and to take care of this young lady. What had gotten into your head, now, boy?"

I didn't really have an answer for it, because all-in-all I did this to save Naminé from something I couldn't think to even explain to Mr. Xemnas. Sure, my education and social status were probably on the line, but it's not like they would have to punish me _too_ harshly. I mean, I was the son of the president and all.

I didn't let that get to my head. "Sir—"

"It was my idea," Sora said, walking out of his own shadow. His eyes were too hurt to look at me, because he was pulling this excuse out of thin air and almost no concern for me. He was just doing it as a side job. Distrust was what it was.

"I was chasing them. They fell into the river. I'll take their detentions." I was astonished at how Sora's ability of duplicity had finally come a long way, but I didn't want him to take blame.

Sora wasn't backing down. Mr. Xemnas looked wearily confused and it also started to look like he had just been roused from bed because of our incident. "Alright, but Roxas and his friend are still getting detentions for causing public disturbances."

He sighed yet again, his eyes growing weary of this entire situation. He turned to me and Naminé, with high regard to me. "I'm sorry, Mr. Strife, but after all this commotion, I don't know what else to say. Your father will be notified."

I let go of my closely contained cover. "Ah, that won't be necessary, I'll be sure to tell him myself," I said. "To redeem myself on my own time."

I held my breath as he released another long breath. I looked to Sora, but he didn't return my glance. "As you will. Have a good rest of the evening."

"To you too," I said myself.

I felt like I had just made a deal with the devil.

It was late at night when I had walked Naminé home, keeping quiet the whole time. The crisp autumn evening forced us to cover our wet backs with towels, leaving our hair to stay exposed. I pleaded that somehow, with the amount of shivering we did, we wouldn't catch a raging cold that even I wouldn't be able to tame. The worst part was that the gel in my hair wore off, and my hair lost its usual ecstatic feel. For so long, it felt so comforting for me.

We reached our block, and Naminé kept eyeing my empty house like she knew something was wrong. I nervously pleaded that she wouldn't invite me to sleep over, because not only was that awkward, but I would have to tell Cloud about what I'd done. I figured that I could last a day without seeing him.

Naminé still looked like she had something to say. Instead, she walked ahead of me as I turned to go into my house. "You take care of yourself," she said, smiling enthusiastically. The gold of her dress shimmered while damp, and the artificial light brought shines in my eyes. I had to turn away from her.

I didn't have house keys that night, so I left the door partly unlocked instead of climbing through window. I didn't even know if Tifa was home, so I checked the unoccupied kitchen before making a swift check in the bedroom. The empty bedroom almost startled me, the imprint of Tifa being home from work and lying in bed a pre-recurring setting. I unconsciously removed the still-dripping suit jacket and pants from my clingy body and put on something less damp. And I sat at the corner of my bed, my eyes wavering back and forth to where my equivocal mess had to be straightened out, and the sodden box of bargained and reserved coloured pencils that was supposed to help me straighten things through.

Xx

At lunch the subsequent day, I had made it a point to find Naminé and reserve a table just for us. She said it wasn't a problem that she wouldn't attend her lunch period class. She obviously had found a way to get out of class, because she met up with me and showed me her hall pass. Our table was a little farther away from my usual group of friends, which included Sora and Kairi, and out of the corner of my eye, I could see Sora had switched seats to have his back turned to me.

Naminé took a seat across from me, her posture cross but relieved at the sight of me sitting across from her. She always seemed to lighten up to my appearance, like a sunflower deprived of light brought back from the shadows.

"We need to, kind of, discuss this first," I deadpanned to her. She took a bite out of her sandwich, and didn't acknowledge my sentence until she had ceased chewing.

"All I know is that this man doesn't have good intentions, Roxas," she replied, the corners of her mouth smoothing to a clear expression of how she was sincerely and genuinely concerned. I didn't want to notice, but I could see the expression of guilt and duplicity hidden in her expression.

"Well, any man that tries to kidnap a girl and fight a boy obviously doesn't have good intentions," I reminded her. I didn't think I had to coax her out of anything, but if I was going to get her to tell me what really bothered her, I'd have to sneak around. "Question is, why?"

We sat in complete silence, but this time, it wasn't serene or still, the equanimity slowly settling in while we continued eating lunch. The sandwich grew to be even more dingy than from when I had made it for myself this morning. _Tifa_, I thought, _would know how to handle this. This whole situation—Tifa would be home by now._

It was like this for a long time. I saw that Naminé had looked up, and once again, she saw the concern drowning my eyes, because I felt it too. It just seemed to flood out of me, and I couldn't stop it. I dropped my sandwich, which was already beyond question not appetizing. Naminé dropped hers too and rested her hand on top of mine, while I sat there. And I did it. For the first time in what seemed like too long, I let myself cry it out.

XX

"I hope you get the point that I was really worried about you," I said to Naminé while we were walking along the corridors. Her hand was holding my arm lightly, keeping me at not a big distance from me. I didn't want to notice at all, but the warmth of her hand kept me close to her, almost wanting it to stay as it was.

She squeezed my arm and led me through more corridors, some I felt I had never seen before. "That is what you've been doing lately, Roxas," she said. I followed her light footsteps around the entire school until it felt like we had circled the campus twice. What came after circling the campus was all her idea. "Let's get out of here," she said, the rebellious smile already apparent.

I almost froze in the middle of the hallway, but I kept walking stiffly. This was the second time we were going off campus, but this time, it was all her idea. If I was going to get a reputation now as a class ditcher, what else am I going to do to keep Naminé on a leash?

"In the middle of lunch? They're gonna have to take our names down, and then they're gonna make sure we're back in school by the end of the period—"

She rolled her eyes deviously and seemingly stomped all over the rules. Her allure alone wasn't all that forced me to follow her lead to sneak past the campus security. She convinced me thoroughly that she knew how to get out. At one point, she reached up to ruffle my hair, but she didn't playfully toussle my hair like she usually did. She smoothed my demanding spikes, and I felt her hand coming up behind my neck. Standing in that near-empty corridor, her face leaned closer to mine, her blue eyes closing gently, before she took her hand off my arm and took my hand in hers.

"I want to show you something."

XX

Nothing happened, really. I swear.

"This is one I did last weekend, and this one a few weeks ago, I'm lucky I even found this place," Naminé explained in vivid audacity. This was the most I'd seen her talk, even to me. She had led me, almost blindly with her hand over my eyes, to the abandoned rooftop of some kind of shop in the middle of Twilight Town. The sun was high in the sky, but it was still dim light that flooded the town at this angle.

I had set myself down on the rooftop pavement to look at a mural that seemed to be painted from this angle—on the floor, with a paintbrush raised to the air. "And you did all of this?" I still said skeptically. "Not that I'd doubt you'd not be able to do this, but...this kind of stuff doesn't usually happen to people from Twilight Town."

Naminé went to lay next me. Her eyes were at the same level as mine, and she saw how her painting now looked at this bizarre angle. "I did paint this stuff, and it's all I ever do when I'm not home, suffocating under a watchful glare," she said in almost one breath. "But, I don't think I'll have much freedom to leave after what happened earlier."

I went up to the large scale mural. Almost like a reflecting mirror of the entire town from this rooftop, it was painted stretching out into the atmosphere behind me, the view from the end of the building outwards. The sunset was even spot on, a hazardous mixture of sunny oranges and flaming reds.

"Does anyone else know of this?" I said, feeling the deteriorating paint. It looked like it had been washed away by early November rain.

Naminé was still looking at everything at a different angle. She hadn't sat up when she said in a so-so voice, "Not really." I turned to her, and saw how she wasn't looking at the mural anymore. Her eyes were directly and firmly fixed to the sky. I watched to see if her eyes would glaze over at the amount of time she had spent looking upwards. I sighed before I rejoined Lady Craziness on the floor.

When I wasn't staring at the spot-on representation of Twilight Town from the mural, I could just look up to see how the same flaming ambers and charcoal burned the sky permanently above Twilight Town. It was beautiful, really. Naminé had really gone on to replicate the actual emotions in the atmosphere to a mural she worked really hard on. It really startled me when Naminé broke the silence I had become already accustomed to.

"I'll let you in on a secret," she said, her voice no higher than a whispering wind breeze. It seemed like she was really serious to let me know her secret.

At first I almost tuned her out. Then I realized that the whole reason I was here was because of her having to show me something, and I didn't want this adventure to be just one-sided. I propped myself on one elbow and looked down at her from an angle. Her eyes were still fixed, but her smile was always bright and rosy.

She finally lifted her eyes from watching the sky. "I painted that sky." Her voice was lower, again in an almost whisper I had to lean closer to hear clearly. She looked to me with startling sincerity, and I couldn't help but to believe her.

"You..._painted_ that, hm," I said lightly but sardonically. "Well...great job?"

She was still staring up at the sky, not saying anything at all. "It looks pretty for us, doesn't it?"

I went back to my position laying flat next to her. "It does." I now understood a little more on how Naminé saw her world as differently as everyone else. Whatever way she looked at it, the sky was hers, and if you looked way into the far corner of the heavens, you'd see scrawled in little black strokes, the script of "_Naminé"._

XX

We didn't hold hands or anything on the way back to school. It wasn't that I was pushing her to come back into the school the way we came out, anyways. Classes were ending for the day in a few minutes, so we parted ways at the courtyard and went to retrieve our belongings from our lockers. I looked back at her turning the corridor, wondering if this was the same girl I met not too long ago on the bell tower rooftop.

Once the bell had rung, I nonchalantly merged into the crowd effortlessly, crouching a little down to avoid the gaze of my afternoon teachers. Despite my efforts to stay out of sight, a strong grip fastened around my shoulder and pulled me into one of the classrooms, saying in a deep and playful voice, "Come here, _lover boy._"

Zack put me down in one of the stools and looked me straight in the eye, sitting at the table in front of mine with his chair facing towards me. He had such strong aqaumarine eyes that I didn't dare break my stare towards the table to face the ultimate guilt face. He said to be in heavy-set words: "You thought I wouldn't notice you gone this afternoon."

I sat in the chair, wondering if I should feel guilty for ditching classes and leaving Mr. Fair in a class without me. I didn't regret much of it; if I had told him where I had gone, then maybe he would've understood. Well, as far as trying to be excused to go into town and sitting on a rooftop looking at the sky would've been accepted. Mr. Fair continued sighing and messing up his spiky hair by pushing it back stressfully. "You, my favorite student, missing from the class? The question is, where'd you lead her off to, and what—"

I finally lifted my gaze to try to look him in the eye. "Nothing, Zack, it isn't anything major—"

Zack stopped me abruptly. "Look, Roxas. As I said, you're one of my favorite students, and it's not only that I want to see you in class, it's also that I want to help you pass. Don't know what it would do to ol' Cloudy if he learned his son would get a detention from me."

I looked up at the wall clock, seeing that I was going to be late for my already scheduled detention. "I'm actually late for my previous detention. You think my dad doesn't know I got into trouble...?"

Mr. Fair once again pushed back his hair, a bit agitated at having to babysit someone like me. He loosened his tie and let it rest around his neck. "Tell me what happened, Roxas." His teacher tone, the one where he sounded booming and full of charisma, had been replaced by a confidential and less serious tone. I had to tell somebody what I was thinking, and I finally got the chance to do so freely.

The steam I blew was enough to fill a swimming pool. Zack looked like he was listening when I described my stories about going to prom with "a certain someone" and jumping into the river because we were "being chased by Sora". So, technically, I didn't tell the whole story about what happened, but somewhere deep in my stomach, I felt it wasn't my place yet to describe the events to other people.

I briefly summarized where Naminé had gone on to bring me to, and Zack looked even more intrigued. I chose not to include the part about how Naminé disclosed her secret, but the parts about how she told me about her paintings were the highlight of my discussion with Zack. He just nodded and let me finish the story.

Zack had seemed to loosen up a little once he heard my experience, which was what I was aiming for. The last thing I needed was the only reliable adult I knew to be angry at me. Although he still sighed audibly at my story, he obviously didn't want to let me take it personally.

I don't know if it was because he gave up on me or if it was from feeling sorry for me, but he let me go easily. "Just go," he said, exhaling a weary breath. "I think I'll let you off the hook once for looking at vandalized rooftops to serve the detention you earned for causing the biggest commotion this school never wanted."

I myself breathed a sigh of relief to find that Mr. Fair was just his normal teacher self. I got off the seat and sarcastically threw him a "Yeah, okay," and grabbed my bag off the floor. Mr. Fair went back to his desk, where he sent me another salute and left me alone.

I strolled out of the classroom still a little flustered and too nervous to think about anything else but what was going to happen if I stuck around Naminé. It wasn't that she was a bad influence, but I didn't know exactly why I had the incentive to follow everything she said. It haunted me while I walked alone down the corridors to the detention room.

XX

I was walking slowly, glancing on the walls every so often to look at the various things posted on the walls—school events, paintings donated to the school, and various amounts of student work—and was lost in deep thought when I almost ran into a certain person I had been meaning to see. Ventus himself looked like he was just headed out to go home. His backpack was slung one-sided on his shoulder, and he had that carefree expression on his face that he always had. Apparently he had earbuds in his ears, because he didn't notice me almost running into him.

"Ven!" I called out to him, a little louder than normal since he always listened to louder music. He turned back, his eyes wide at the sight of seeing me. I don't know what washed all over his face: guilt, surprise, or relief. But he soon rushed over to where I was after what seemed like him avoiding me at the intersection.

"Roxas! Hey, I was trying to find you sooner or later...you didn't even show up to Fair's class, so I figured you were long gone," he said, all while he only had removed one earbud.

I wanted to make the conversation quick, to avoid a second detention from Mr. Xemnas. At first, I staggered with my words, but eventually I began to realize that this was Ven, and I was not mad at him. I surprised him enough to take his other earbud out when I said to him, "I just wanted to thank you, for what you did at prom."

His attention wholly devoted to me, I could see that he wasn't as surprised anymore, as he was smiling appreciatively. I went on to saying, "Er, well, I mean, what you didn't do, at prom."

He nodded, I suppose in agreement, and just waited to see if he was going to say anything more. "There's no need to thank me," he said, in an almost joking manner, before he continued saying, "I didn't want you to feel hurt."

"Feel hurt?" I immediately said, a little surprised Ventus would think like that. He put his bag down on the floor and leaned on the adjacent wall, listening to what I was supposed to say. Instead, he just said so nonchalantly, "I know you like—no, _adore_—Naminé. And I'm not just going to accept an invitation by a girl I barely know and am aware that someone else wanted to be with her. You'd actually think I thought you wouldn't go to prom, after that?

"So I made my decision, that I wasn't going to my senior prom, because I thought, well, I already had one of those, and it wasn't like it mattered anyways, since it was going to be a usual drag. I never saw much appeal in formal dances. So, you don't have much to thank me for, other than me knowing you so well."

I didn't mean to stare at Ven for such a long time, I just hadn't thought that he was that smart enough to realize my motives. He knew I was listening to his conversation with Naminé, and he knew what I would try to do afterwards. This time, I didn't blame it on twin physics, but I honestly felt that he knew me well as a friend.

All I could reply with was a standard nodding, since I was so astonished at Ven. He was still leaning on the wall when started walking in the opposite direction, but he didn't start picking his bag off the floor until I turned around, and said, again, "Thank you, then, for that, Ven."

"See you around, Roxas," Ven said, his earbuds already back in their original placement, ready to have him walk home silently. I turned the corner, past all the conversation we had, and finally found the detention room.

XX

The smell of sweat and afternoon detention filled the half-empty room. Seated at the front desk was one of the ambigous teachers I had never seen or heard about, his feet propped up on the desk while he scanned what looked like a car magazine.A dingy aura had been from the lack of sunlight in the room, the windows a little more tinted than usual. I saw that ten desks were occupied, larger than the average amount attending, possibly from the prom weekend. I didn't make eye contact with the teacher, who just said to sign my name and take a seat anywhere but "next to my friends".

Naminé hung her head low, almost flat on the desk, with her arm serving as some pillow. I took a seat in front of her, and she abruptly looked up. _"Hi, Roxas,"_ she mouthed, followed by a fleeting smile. I smiled a bit uncomfortably, still remembering the short conversation I had with Mr. Fair. Her head went back down to lie on her arm, but she kept her head up to face me. I turned my back and faced the front of the room, avoiding any kind of attention towards myself from the proctor.

I had missed the first five minutes of an uninteresting detention, but it wasn't like I didn't want to be late. We were hardly allowed to move, any sudden movements sometimes catching the attention of the automobile magazine-reading teacher. I didn't have a good view of the wall clock, so I just had to estimate the time that was left.

I had somehow found a way to make the wait a little more comfortable by propping my elbow up and leaning on that. I didn't want to make eye contact with anyone else, but I suppose that was unavoidable, since almost everyone was staring at me. The people here didn't look very troublesome, more like they had been caught at the wrong place at the wrong time. But none looked the least guiltless than the boy sitting at the front of the classroom, with spiky chocolate-colored hair, his elbow propped up and resting his head as well. It didn't look like he found it any different being in detention, but he still looked like he was annoyed to be here.

I couldn't catch the brunette's attention, much less begin to call out Sora's name. I sat a few desks away from him, but all I could do was watch and wait for my first sour detention to be over.

Once our quiet group had finally been allowed to leave early, I got up from my seat and followed everybody out of the class, most of them eager to leave and trying not to be seen leaving the detention room. Sora took his time taking his backpack from the huge pile of them at the front of the classroom, while I waited for him to even begin to look enthusiastic about anything. He looked drained of color and charm, looking like any ordinary boy from this school. But he wasn't any ordinary boy from The Twilight Terraces; he was Sora, and I knew just by looking at his face that he was not enthusiastic about seeing the boy that landed him here.

Someone tapped my shoulder, and I found a still-smiling Naminé waiting for me with her bag slung over her shoulder. She looked eager to tell me something, to which I had to try and turn her down. Before I could however, Sora brushed right past me, trying to avoid eye and physical contact with me. I didn't want to chase Sora through the hallways, since it wasn't time consuming, but I didn't want to just leave with Naminé to go see more of her paintings, no matter how much of an alluring idea it was.

I took my backpack along with me out the door, myself avoiding Naminé, and told her, "I'll talk to you tomorrow." I turned my back on her again, my eyes forced to look at the floor to avoid any eye contact with anyone myself.

XX

"Hi, I'm here to, um, see my mother...her name's Tifa Lockhart, she was admitted a few days ago," I stiffly said to the hospital secretary at the desk. I didn't like talking to anyone in a hospital, since they seemed to know a lot more about me just by looking at my face. It was like, they already knew who I was looking for before I even said so myself.

"You're her son...Roxas, I take it?" the secretary asked me. I nodded, a little anxious about seeing my mother for the first time since the dinner party. The nurse stepped out from behind her desk and led me to the elevator farther away from the front desk. She got in with me, and pushed one of the buttons in a long row of numbered buttons. When the doors finally opened, she didn't step out with me. She merely said, "Room 21," and pushed one of the buttons on the elevator to make it go back down. I was left all alone in the middle of a quieter hallway, but there were still doctors and nurses bouncing around, sometimes wheeling a mobile bed across multiple hallways.

I didn't bother asking for help or directions. I was in some unknown part of a large multi-story hospital, but I knew that most rooms went in numerical order. So it took me a few tries to find the right hallway to go through, and prepared myself from outside Room 21. The door was shut, but the placard read, "Ms. Tifa Lockhart". I didn't read the chart hanging below the name, figuring that whatever it was, I could wait a little longer to find out.

I knocked cautiously before entering, but I just went inside myself and to see her. She was in usual hospital attire, a blanket reaching up from the end of the bed to cover almost her entire torso. She was half-asleep from what I could tell, but I didn't think my judgement skills were spot-on.

Sitting next to her bed on one of the hospital-provided chairs, I saw, dressed in the same clothes as this afternoon, the same spiky-haired detention-casual brunette staring blankly towards the bed Tifa rested on. He didn't raise his eyes, but I could tell that he knew I was there. For what seemed like a long time, I just continued looking between the resting Tifa and the blank Sora. Finally working up enough courage to stand beside her bed, I was inches apart from Sora, when he finally said, "I'm sorry."

I didn't act like I was mad, because I wasn't truly angry at him. "I'm not angry at you, Sora."

"You're not? Hmph," he scoffed, and I noticed that Sora was now long-past his original self.

I still wasn't making eye contact with him when I blatantly told him, "I'm disappointed in you, that's what."

I could sense his body tensing up, and I knew that he wasn't happy I was chagrined by his behavior. It wasn't like I was trying to coach a dog, but Sora had been one of my loyal friends for a long time, so it would've been upsetting if I didn't agree with his actions.

I was now brushing Tifa's hair away from her face, her body not reacting to any nimble touch. Sora still didn't say anything, but it wasn't because he had run out of words. It was because he was a little scared of what he was going to say next. He wasn't out of words to say, but he didn't want to say anything after that.

"She's going to be like that for awhile," he finally interrupted, his voice heavy and stressed. I stopped stroking Tifa's hair, completely interested in what he was going to say. He was finally telling me something I wanted to hear.

"That's just great," I said, and before I wanted to sit down, I realized that Sora was sitting down in the only chair in the room. That's why I slowly, but smoothly, sunk down to sit on the floor. I didn't know how sterile hospital floors were, but I couldn't stand any more. I lifted my knees off the floor and looked up to Sora to see him still not looking at me, his eyes still fixed forward in time.

I knew she was sick with something, and Sora didn't have to tell me that I was somehow the cause of it. His eyes were weary-looking, and it didn't take much to see that he was here a few times before now.

"I was the first to visit after Mr. Strife dropped her off. The doctors thought I was his son, so they told me her diagnosis." He stopped to run his hand through his hair and straighten out his spikes. "Uh, I just wanted to show up and see her again. I, uh, haven't seen her since...we were younger, I guess."

I nodded, understanding what he was saying. "You're right." He didn't know how correct he was.

* * *

**A/N:** **I'm so so soooooooooooo sorry for my absence from fanfiction. I lost track of time, or someone must've played the Song of Time, because apparently I jumped like 10 months without updating D: Truth is, my life changed...sadly. I mean, these are good changes, but it's affected my writing schedule. I'll write more about it later, but, few things to mention:**

**KINGDOM FREAKING HEARTS 3DS in 2 WEEKS in America! I'm literaalllly dying. I got a 3DS like last week and I finished Ocarina of Time, so I'm pumpeddd**

**I'm going backpacking across Europe starting August 4, so I'm trying my hardest to get OCS updated too. As stated earlier, I have a really bad schedule now, so I will be updating this a little later. I PROMISE that it won't be too long, and I hope it doesn't take too long...I'm sorry...**


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